Realization of retirement plans in Hungary

Márta Radó, Corvinus University of Budapest

The realization of intention to work after retirement is examined using two waves of the Hungarian GGS data (2004 and 2008). The analysis focuses on those who had retired between the two interviews. A distinction is made between weak and strong intention: the former refers to those who could imagine to work after retirement, while the latter refers to those who strongly intended to work. Most people had at least weak intention, but only a small fraction of them had a strong intention. Logistic regression analyses which control for social-demographic variables and labor-force status show that only strong intention has an effect on the actual work after retirement. It also reveals that those people were able to realize their retirement plans who had better labor market status before retirement. Since retired people are intensively involved in housework, I argue that they may be able to keep participating in the labor market as well. Raising the activities of the elderly would be an important aim due to the sustainability problem of the pension system.