Abstract
This paper analyses the effect of retirement on the familiarity with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) of older individuals. We argue that inability to cope with ICT might represent a threat for older individuals’ social inclusion. To account for the potential endogeneity of retirement with respect to familiarity with ICT, we instrument retirement decision with the age-eligibility for early and statutory retirement pension schemes. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we show that retirement reduces the computer literacy and the frequency of internet utilization for men and women. This finding is robust to the inclusion as control factors of health, cognition and social network indicators, which the literature has shown to be affected by retirement. Overall, the reduction in the familiarity with ICT after retirement tends to be stronger in the long-run.
Highlights
The use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a major issue for older individuals
Following the literature analyzing the effect of retirement on several wellbeing domains that will be discussed our instruments are based on institutional information concerning the eligibility ages for early and statutory retirement, which vary across countries, genders and birth cohorts, as well as over time
In this paper we analyze the effect of retirement on the familiarity with ICT of older individuals in a sample of current and previous employees aged 50–69 and living in thirteen European countries plus Israel
Summary
In this paper we investigate the effect of retirement on computer literacy and internet use of older individuals using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The exit from the labour market might expand the amount of time available for leisure activities and this might act as an incentive to utilize ICT devices by exploiting their current knowledge and improving it through learning-by-doing or interactions with social network members Which of these two opposite effects prevails is an empirical issue. Ambition and dedication might make workers more willing to invest in their ICT knowledge in order to increase their productivity and improve their job prospects As long as these skills are rewarded in the labour market, individuals with higher familiarity with ICT devices might find attractive to delay their exit from the labour force (Biagi et al, 2013; Friedberg, 2003), bringing about reverse causality concerns.
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