THOSE WHO CANNOT HAVE WHAT THEY WANT MUST WANT WHAT THE CAN GET - THEEXPERIENCE WITH COMPANY-BASED EARLY RETIREMENT PENSION SCHEMES IN NORWAY

Early retirement is a central bridge between permanent work and standa rd pension age. During 1988-1989, 10% of all private Norwegian compani es, employing about 20% of all employees, had made use of early retire ment schemes, mainly as a means of reducing staff. A central question is whether early retirement creates welfare or reduces it for the earl y retirees. Case studies of 4 companies and panel studies of potential early retirees have been used to throw light on these questions: what are the experiences of those involved, and do they wish to leave work or is leave taken involuntary? Only 1 of 7 early retirees adapted poo rly, mostly due to poor health, a strong work orientation combined wit h unfilled expectations for part-time work and the feeling that they h ad no choice but to accept the offer. The majority seem to adjust fair ly well to life as a pensioner, especially if they have some part-time work. Besides high financial compensation, satisfaction with early re tirement depends on whether the scheme is regarded as legitimate in th e community and the individual considers the transition to be meaningf ul.