Finland Times

The number of elderly people in employment has risen in the country in recent years, said the Finnish Centre for Pensions.

In slightly more than a decade, the employment rate of persons aged 55 or above has risen by 10 percentage points to around 60 per cent, said a press release of the organisation.

“Despite the economic situation, the employment rate of the elderly has developed favourably. In recent years, the employment rate of individuals aged 60 and above, in particular, has increased briskly,” said Jari Kannisto, development manager at the centre.

The effective retirement age also rose sharply in 2014. The centre said on average the Finns retired on an earnings-related pension at age 61.2 years, whereas the corresponding figure in 2013 was 60.9 years.

The main reason for the rise in effective retirement age was a decrease in the number of starting disability pensions.

The number of new retirees on a disability pension fell from 2013 by eight per cent. As of 2008, it has decreased by 25 per cent. In 2014, for the first time in the 2000s, the number was less than 20,000 persons, said the release.

“The number of new retirees on disability pension has decreased surprisingly much. The life expectancy of Finnish citizens has extended, and an increasing number of persons reach the old-age retirement age in good health. Workplaces and attitudes have also changed,” said Kannisto

Similarly, the abolishment of the early old-age pension also led to a rise in the effective retirement age. This pension type is no longer granted to persons born in 1952 or later. 

According to Mikko Kautto, director at the centre, the developments in disability pensions enhance chances of reaching the goals set for extending working lives. 

“We need the pension reform agreed on in the autumn so that retirement on an old-age pension will also be postponed. Sixty-three years continue to be the most popular age at which to retire on an old-age pension,” said Kautto.

According to the release, approximately 70,000 persons retired on an earnings-related pension in 2014, that is more than 3,000 less than in 2013.

Furthermore, the number of new retirees on a partial pension also declined.