Increasing numbers of retirees are returning to work: Northern Europe leads the way

Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Il Sole 24 Ore

Spain favors retirement; Czechia boosts post-retirement work via pension reforms and incentives.

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[This is an automatically generated summary, for reference only]

In Spain, very few citizens aged 50 to 74 continue working after retirement, with only 4.9% remaining employed, largely due to a generous pension system that can replace 70% to 80% of a final salary and historical regulations penalizing combining pensions and work; the prevailing culture associates retirement with complete rest rather than continued employment. Conversely, the Czech Republic is seeing an increase in active retirees, with over half of its employed pensioners being over 67 years old. This trend is supported by pension reforms enacted at the end of 2024, which raised the retirement age and introduced tax exemptions for those who continue working after retiring, meaning they no longer pay social security contributions starting in 2025.

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