Table 15. Expected increase in old-age pensions for a 55 year-old male by working for 10 more Percentage point increase in the summary replacement rate 2 1967 1995 United States 0 0 Japan 5 3 Germany 13 11 France 25 17 Italy 24 10 United Kingdom 0 10 Canada 23 0 Australia 0 0 Austria 13 12 Belgium 32 15 Czech Republic n.a. 1 Denmark 2 1 Finland 10 4 Greece n.a. 25 Hungary n.a. 1 Iceland n.a. 10 Ireland 0 0 Luxembourg n.a. 19 Netherlands 0 0 New Zealand 0 0 Norway 17 9 Poland n.a. 9 Portugal 15 10 Spain 0 0 Sweden 21 0 Switzerland 12 11 1. It is assumed that the individual started work at the age of 20 so that he has a potential contribution period of 35 years at the age of 55. 2. The pension replacement rate is the ratio of pension benefits to economy-wide average earnings. There is no single pension replacement rate. It can differ according to previous earnings, household composition, other household income, length of contribution periods, annual accrual rates, the age at which pensions are accessed and minimum and maximum levels of pension. Likewise, the denominator depends on the assumptions made to calculate average earnings. The summary replacement rates shown in the table are simple averages of four cases: two earnings levels - economy-wide and 2/3 of average - and two household compositions - a single worker and a worker with a dependent spouse. Source: Blöndal and Scarpetta (1999), "Early retirement in OECD countries: the role of social security systems," OECD Economic Studies No. 29, 1997/II.