Abstract
AbstractThis article looks at how retirement timing is changing in Italy. A first aim is descriptive and it is to identify recent trends in retirement age, following the pension reform. Then the focus is on factors which may favour or hinder the extension of the working career of older workers. They are studied by looking at the reasons for retirement, introducing the distinction between voluntary and involuntary retirement, and some predictors of retirement. Some of them relate to the work history of individuals, in particular the stability/instability of careers due to episodes of unemployment. The level of education and gender, two variables that may affect the employability of older workers, have also been considered. The study is based on a longitudinal analysis (Kaplan–Meier survival estimates of transition to retirement and binomial logit discrete-time model for the analysis of retirement predictors) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) Job Episodes Panel data. They refer to a sample of 1,999 individuals born between 1911 and 1959. Although the various pension reforms initiated in Italy in the 1990s have not yet been fully implemented, retirement age is rising, even in the case of involuntary retirement. Regarding work history, the advantages of a working career with a small number of unemployment episodes emerge from the study.
Highlights
Many studies have been carried out on work–retirement transition
The description of the trends in retirement age in Italy will be followed by a study of some predictors of retirement, with a focus on work history and especially on work stability/instability due to episodes of unemployment
This study is intended to contribute to an open debate on both substantive and methodological aspects. As far as the former are concerned, the literature review has shown the need for studies on retirement timing
Summary
Many studies have been carried out on work–retirement transition (for a review, see e.g. Wang and Schultz, 2010; Sargent et al, 2012; Barbosa et al, 2016; Fisher et al, 2016). If we consider participation in the labour market, it is above all the reform of pensions that raises the retirement age and, pushes for an extension of the working career.
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