Early Retirement Policy in Kuwait: A Need for Reassessment

Early retirement in the Arabian Gulf States and in Kuwait in particular became a public issue before and after the Gulf War. Reports a recent study of Kuwaiti nationals who retired from the Government sector from 1979 to 1989: more than 84 per cent of the sample were 50 years of age and younger; more than 70 per cent of the women and 52 per cent of the men were college graduates; more than 74 per cent of the women and 32 per cent of the males spent less than 25 years in service; and more than 51 per cent of men and 42 per cent of women worked after their retirement. The sample considered early retirement benefits and management‐organizational factors to be the major influences on their early retirement decision and proposed improving the management‐organization factors through training, managerial development, career development, and counselling as means for reducing the outflow of Kuwaiti manpower from the Government sector, and offsetting the early retirement trend.