The Dynamics of Paid and Unpaid Activities Among People Aged 50-69 in Denmark, France, Italy, and England.

Giorgio Di Gessa,Emily Grundy

doi:10.1177/0164027516654521

Giorgio Di Gessa, Emily Grundy

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1177/0164027516654521

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Abstract

In the context of the current policy emphasis on extending working lives, we investigate whether the relationship between participation in paid work, other formal, and informal activities among people aged 50–69 is complementary or competitive. We also investigate differences in associations between countries using comparable longitudinal data from Denmark, France, Italy, and England. We find positive associations between informal and formal engagement in cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses. Paid work was negatively associated with formal and informal engagement, and respondents who stopped working were more likely to be engaged in formal (Denmark and France) and informal activities (England and Italy) at follow-up than respondents who continued working. However, the strongest predictor of formal and informal engagement at follow-up was baseline engagement. In the context of policy aims to extend working lives and broaden older people’s participation in other productive activities, new balances between work and other forms of engagement are still to be found.

Highlights

Previous cross-sectional studies suggest complex relationships between various forms of engagement at older ages. Vlachantoni (2010), using the third wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA), found that men and women aged 50–64 who were economically active were less likely to provide care compared to those outside the labor force
Educational level and health differed across samples; for instance, three quarters of the Italian respondents were in the lowest educational category as opposed to less than one fifth in Denmark
Proportions engaged in informal activities were similar in Denmark, France, and Italy but lower in England

Summary

Introduction

Previous cross-sectional studies suggest complex relationships between various forms of engagement at older ages. Vlachantoni (2010), using the third wave of the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA), found that men and women aged 50–64 who were economically active were less likely to provide care compared to those outside the labor force. Several studies using baseline data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) have reported that older people in paid work are less likely to provide informal help or care or to volunteer (Di Gessa, Glaser, Price, Ribe, & Tinker, 2015; Erlinghagen & Hank, 2006; Hank & Buber, 2009; Hank & Stuck, 2008). Using longitudinal data from SHARE, both Kohli, Hank, and Kunemund (2009) and Hank and Erlinghagen (2010) found that the probability of starting active participation in voluntary associations, educational courses, sport, social, or other kinds of clubs was highest in the immediate postretirement period, that is, among those who left the paid labor force between waves of the survey. Retirement was not associated with uptake of informal activities such as providing help to friends and family when they retired

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