Merita V. Xhumari (2011). Pension Trajectories in Western Balkans. Three case studies: Albania, Macedonia and Kosovo 1990-2010. ERSTE Stiftung & UNFPA, 158 pp. ISBN 973 9928 124 24 1 (paperback)

摘要

The description of ‘‘greying economies’’ subject to ‘‘demographic ageing’’has become a common phrase in both the academic and the public discourseon the major challenges that European societies are facing. Virtually allEuropean countries have been witnessing a simultaneous appearance ofan increase in longevity and a decline in fertility rates, resulting in a longtermincrease in the relative (and partly also the absolute proportion) ofpeople in older age groups. Particularly since the 1970s and 1980s, this trendhas coincided with the increasing prevalence of early retirement, i.e. thewithdrawal of older workers from active employment before reaching standardretirement ages. Only in more recent years, this ‘‘early exit’’ orientationhas been replaced by policies supporting the late career employment ofolder workers.