Combining Work and a Pension – Individual Determining Factors and Combiners’ Profiles

[eng] Combining work and a pension is one of the ways of extending ones working life that is being encouraged under the 2003 pension reforms. In 2019, 3% of retirees under the general scheme were thus in paid employment in the private sector and, of individuals having retired under the general scheme since 1 January 2004, 10% were in paid employment in the private sector between 2005 and 2016. This article seeks to identify the key characteristics of these employed retirees, or “combiners”, prior to any changes in the legislation. The analysis, carried out using administrative data gathered by the CNAV (the French national old-age insurance), shows that the two factors which contribute most to a decision to return to work after retirement are having been in employment before retiring and having the length of insurance cover required for a full pension. Three typical combiner profiles are identified: a profile of men who have had long careers and taken early retirement (24%), a profile of executives (45%) and a profile of women with spells out of work (31%).