Coping with flexibility

• Grødem, Anne Skevik & Kitterød, Hege (2021). Combining Work and Pension in Norway: Gathering Information and Imagining the Future. Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. p. 1–19. doi: 10.18291/njwls.127972. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  The Norwegian pension system has provided unprecedented flexibility to combine work and pension drawing from the age of 62, and this has become a popular option. Using qualitative interviews with 28 older workers, we explore their information strategies and motivations. We find that many informants struggle to understand the various options and their consequences and use different strategies to shield themselves from insecurity: they downplay the issue or point to factors beyond their control. Two key motives for early pension take-up are the desire to secure the money for one’s family in the event of early death and to get the money while still vigorous. Informants typically imagine life after 80 as quiet and with fewer material demands. In conclusion, the analysis shows how adaptations to the flexible pension system are embedded in notions of ageing, institutional trust, and a newfound sense of ownership regarding one’s retirement savings.

• Grødem, Anne Skevik & Kitterød, Hege (2021). Older workers imagining retirement: the collapse of agency, or freedom at last? Ageing & Society. doi: 10.1017/S0144686X20002044. Full text in Research Archive
• Pedersen, Axel West & Schøyen, Mi Ah (2021). Welfare state redistribution between overlapping generations – normative theories applied to two contemporary debates. In Falch-Eriksen, Asgeir; Takle, Marianne & Britt, Slagsvold (Ed.), Generational Tensions and Solidarity Within Advanced Welfare States. Routledge. p. 19–37. Full text in Research Archive
• Grødem, Anne Skevik (2020). Arbeidslinja – nå også for 70-åringer? Eldre arbeidstakeres tanker om lønnsarbeid, pensjon og det gode liv. Søkelys på arbeidslivet. 37(4), p. 252–266. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-7989-2020-04-03. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Eldre arbeidstakere oppfordres i dag til å stå lenger i arbeid. Basert på 28 intervjuer med ansatte i privat sektor i alderen 55–66 år spør vi hvordan eldre arbeidstakere forholder seg til denne forventningen. Vi finner at noen protesterer gjennom å vektlegge tidligere innsats, valgfrihet og ønsket om å gjøre andre meningsfylte ting i eldre år. Andre omfavner prinsippet om lengre arbeidsliv, men da på egne premisser, og vektlegger at de fortsatt er kompetente og verdifulle arbeidstakere. Vi argumenterer for at seniorenes refleksjoner er relevante for å forstå betydningen av lønnsarbeid i folks liv mer generelt.

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• Pedersen, Axel West (2021). The Norwegian pension reform miracle and the trilemma of minimum protection in old age . Show summary

  The paper offers an assessment of the political process and content of the Norwegian pension reform which was enacted in 2009 and taking effect from 2011. It is argued that the reform was carried through the political system in a relatively open and consensual process, without impetus from a severe economic crisis and strong immediate reform pressures. Nevertheless, the process did contain elements of the Machiavellian tactics that Paul Pierson (1996) has claimed to be indispensable features of contemporary pension reforms: diffusion of political responsibility, paying compensation to powerful stakeholders, and obfuscation of the issues involved. In terms of content, the Norwegian reform represents a special version of the Notional Defined Contribution (NDC) framework invented and pioneered by Sweden and Italy in the 1990s. Like other NDC systems it secures a strong and direct link between preretirement earnings and the accumulation of pension wealth, but somewhat paradoxically, contributions are undefined as the system is fully integrated in the state budget and financed through general taxation. Another distinctive feature is the high level of minimum protection offered by a targeted Guarantee Pension flanking the NDC-system. While this for the moment provides effective protection against financial poverty in old age, it comes at the cost of seriously weakening the link between lifetime earnings and pension benefits for a large share of the population. The paper concludes with a more general discussion of what is referred to as a trilemma of minimum protection in old age.

• Pedersen, Axel West (2021). Bidrar folketrygdens pensjonssystem til inntektsutjevning i et livsløpsperspektiv?
• Grødem, Anne Skevik (2020). Seniorenes tanker om pensjonisttilværelsen- hva forteller de oss om betingelsene for fortsatt yrkesaktivitet? .
• Grødem, Anne Skevik (2020). Yrkesaktiv etter 55 - Hva vet vi om individuell atferd og tilpasninger og hva virker av arbeidsgivers tiltak? .
• Kitterød, Ragni Hege (2020). Pensjonsuttak og yrkesavgang – seniorers betraktninger om penger og tid.
• Pedersen, Axel West (2020). Arbeiderpartiet tar feil om samordningsfella. [Business/trade/industry journal]. Fagbladet.
• Pedersen, Axel West (2020). Hva er et godt pensjonssystem? Økonomisk, sosial og politisk bærekraft.
• Pedersen, Axel West (2019). Noen vil tape 1–2 millioner kroner i pensjon hvis de jobber frem til fylte 73 år . Aftenposten (morgenutg. : trykt utg.).
• Pedersen, Axel West (2019). Velferdsstat og fordeling mellom generasjoner.
• Pedersen, Axel West (2019). The price of sustainability.
• Pedersen, Axel West (2019). Pensjonsreformen åtte år etter - dilemma og veivalg.

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