In a project funded by the ROCKWOOL Foundation, researchers from the Interdisciplinary Centre on Population Dynamics (CPop) at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) investigate two major challenges to the indexation of the retirement age:

As the retirement age rises, the risk of death before the retirement age may increase. The researchers analyze the risk of dying between age 50 and retirement age. Some segments of the population face higher risks of such early deaths. If these risks increase, the indexation may be harmful to these people.

If, however, survival at older ages improves more rapidly than anticipated, then the retirement age may have to be increased even further than planned to preserve the economic sustainability of the welfare state.