Redundancy and Early Retirement: The Interaction of Public and Private Policy in Britain, Germany and the USA

Abstract Labour force reductions have been a major issue in industrial relations in Western countries since the mid‐1970s. Early retirement has enabled employers to structure these reductions better to suit their interests, and to reduce the damage to industrial peace which would otherwise occur. This paper looks at the role and nature of early retirement in cases of redundancy in three countries with different industrial relations and social insurance systems. Attention is given to how compensatory policies undermine protective policies; how the costs of early retirement are shared between the state and enterprises; the adequacy of early retirement benefits and their impact upon post‐retirement income; and whether the state can be said to encourage early retirement.