Early retirement as one of the significant strains on Social Security’s financial structure is sgotlighted in a study by Uta Foundation. private, non-profit research organization. The foundation said that in 1960 more than 75 percent of Social Security benefits newly granted during the year were full benefits signifying retirement at 65 years or later, But in 1979, only 12 percent of newly-awarded benefits were for standard retirement, B8 percent for reduced benefits indicating retirement between ages 62 and 65. With no changes in the economy to account for the sweeping change, the foundation concludes that “at least significant proportion of those taking early retirement do so by choice rather than from necessity.” Under present law. maximum benefits for a person taking early retirement at age 62 are B0 percent of those awarded to a person retiring at 65 under comparable conditions. The person retiring at 65 will receive larger monthly benefits than the early retirant, “but probably will take considerably less from the system during his lifetime than will the early retirant. “Not until the retired person is 77 years old would the person taking normal retirement receive as much in total cumulative benefits as the person retiring at age G2,” the study discloses. “The mortality rate is high between ages 62 and 77.” In the early days of Social Security, the Foundation noted, one objective was to get older people out of the work force and leave scarce jobs to younger workers. But one of the major future problems is the decreasing numbers coming into the work force from the declining birthrates which started in the l960s, while “at the same time the number of retired persons will be swelled by the impact of the post-war baby boom generation that soon will be reaching retirement In other words, just as it was important in depression years to provide incentives for people to retire, it may be essential in the future to provide incentives for them “to remain as long as possible in the work force if Social Security is to remain operative.” It is recognized, of course, that provision must be made for those who retire early by necessity because of disabilities or impossibility of finding employment. But without doubt, the foundation has put its finger on one of the steps which can help cure Social Security’s economic woes – stronger penalties for early retirement.