This paper uses data from the British Household Panel Survey to shed further light on the fall in spending at retirement (the “retirement-consumption puzzle”). Comparing food spending for men retiring involuntarily early (through ill health or redundancy) with spending for those who retire...

High effective tax rates on work at and around state pension age deter participation. An example is the ‘earnings test’ operating in several OECD countries. The United States abolished its test for the 65+ age group in 2000. The United Kingdom offers a ‘natural experiment’ of this...

This paper uses data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) to shed further light on the fall in consumption at retirement (the “retirement-consumption puzzle”). Comparing food spending of men retiring involuntarily early (through ill health or redundancy) with spending of men who...

Like other OECD countries, the UK experienced more than two decades of declining labour market activity among older men in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. A number of measures to reverse this trend that are currently under discussion, or have already been introduced, include, an increase in...