Medicus, Vol. 14 No. 2_Gerijatrija, 2005.
Review article
Retirement – Administrative or Market Principles
Berislav Skupnjak
Spomenka Tomek-Roksandić
Goran Perko
Josip Čulig
Mate Ljubičić
Abstract
The proportion of senior citizens in Croatia is
growing, which results in the reduction of workforce and a very
disturbing increase in the number of pensioners. The current
economic situation, the employee/pensioner ratio that has
reached the “world record”, the years of service and the age
of current pensioners indispensably require pension reforms.
These reforms primarily refer to the prolongation of years of
service. This would prevent early retirement and increase the
percentage of workforce. Based on the gerontologic database
of functional capabilities of 65-year old Croatian citizens, the
authors suggest the prolongation of years of service up to 70
years of age for men, and up to 68 years of age for women,
provided that employers get incentives for older employees.
This would also lead to the increase in the number of young
employees due to the transfer of knowledge, skills and working
experience. The authors substantiate this approach with eight
factors, elaborating each of them and drawing attention to
their sensitivity. They especially comment on the guidelines of
the United Nations and the World Health Organisation, which
timely noticed the phenomenon of population aging and the
related retirement issues. Therefore, they support the “active,
productive, and creative aging” programme in their gerontologic
approach. In Croatia so far, people have retired before meeting
the relevant requirements, which resulted in the 1.45:1
employee/pensioner ratio. European and Croatian gerontologists
emphasise the importance of individual gerontologic approach.
This approach would take into account functional abilities of the
elderly, provide right to work by extending the years of service
and thus prevent “age discrimination”.
Keywords
active; productive and creative aging; retirement; employment
Hrčak ID:
18881
URI
Publication date:
17.10.2005.
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