Employment record, qualification and retirement patterns: an analysis based on data from the Research Data Centre of the German Federal Pension Insurance

Based on data provided by the Research Data Centre of the German Pension Insurance we analyzed the influence of school and occupational qualification, the individual employment records, and lifetime earnings on the timing of retirement. The study shows different results for men and women in East and West Germany. Furthermore the results indicate that higher educated people with higher pension income start their working career later but do not necessarily retire earlier.