Study
| EST. READ TIME 1 MIN.Canada only country in G7 not raising retirement age; adds significant costs for government
The Age of Eligibility for Public Retirement Programs in the OECD
Summary
- All industrialized countries, particularly those in the OECD and including Canada, are experiencing an aging of their populations.
- Of the 22 high-income OECD countries apart from Canada, 18 of them (over 80 percent) (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States) are enacting increases in the age of eligibility for public retirement programs.
- Thirteen countries, or almost 60 percent (Australia, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States) are increasing their age of eligibility for public retirement programs to 67 years old or older; 2 of these (Ireland and the United Kingdom) are moving to 68 years, and Iceland is moving to 70 years.
- Five countries are indexing their age of eligibility with life expectancy, meaning that the age of eligibility will be automatically adjusted as life expectancy changes.
- Four countries in addition to Canada are retaining the status quo with no reforms: Luxembourg, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland.
- In 2015, Canada’s federal government reversed a 2012 reform that would have increased the age of eligibility for Old Age Security and the Guaranteed Income Supplement to 67 by 2029. The federal government estimates that this policy reversal will cost $10.4 billion in 2030.
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Jason Clemens
Executive Vice President, Fraser Institute
Jason Clemens is the Executive Vice President of the Fraser Institute and the President of the Fraser Institute Foundation. Hehas an Honors Bachelors Degree of Commerce and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of Windsor as well as a Post Baccalaureate Degree in Economics from Simon Fraser University. Before rejoining the Fraser Institute in 2012, he was the director of research and managing editor at the Ottawa-based Macdonald-Laurier Institute and prior to joining the MLI, Mr. Clemens spent a little over three years in the United States with the San Francisco-based Pacific Research Institute. He has published over 70 major studies on a wide range of topics, including taxation, government spending, labor market regulation, banking, welfare reform, health care, productivity, and entrepreneurship. He has published over 300 shorter articles, which have appeared in such newspapers as The Wall Street Journal, Investors Business Daily, Washington Post, Globe and Mail, National Post, and a host of U.S., Canadian, and international newspapers. Mr. Clemens has been a guest on numerous radio and television programs across Canada and the United States. He has appeared before committees of both the House of Commons and the Senate in Canada as an expert witness and briefed state legislators in California. In 2006, he received the coveted Canada’s Top 40 Under 40 award presented by Caldwell Partners as well as an Odyssey Award from the University of Windsor. In 2011, he was awarded (along with his co-authors) the prestigious Sir Antony Fisher International Memorial Award for the best-selling book The Canadian Century. In 2012, the Governor General of Canada on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, presented Mr. Clemens with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of his contributions to the country.… Read more Read Less… -
Sasha Parvani
Sasha Parvani is a former Researcher at the Fraser Institute. She worked on projects related to entrepreneurship, demographics, and education policy.She holds an M.Sc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of British Columbia.… Read more Read Less…
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