Longer Working Lives Research Articles

Is There Somebody Looking out for Me? A Qualitative Analysis of Bullying Experiences of Individuals Diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder.

According to the World Health Organisation, there are globally 40 million individuals with bipolar disorder (BD), and they experience stigma and discrimination, as many people with mental illness do. Work bullying (WB) is a common organisational problem, deteriorating the well-being and performance of employees and organisations. Although WB experiences have been researched for over three decades, we do not know much about the experiences of this group and what they need to extend their work-life. The current research aims to understand the workplace bullying experiences of individuals with BD and factors that may foster or hinder their participation in the labour force. The research methodology was based on in-depth interviews with 19 employees diagnosed with BD. Bullying experiences were mapped onto the Negative Acts Questionnaire. The data were analysed using the deductive qualitative content analysis on MAXQDA. Results showed that individuals with BD were exposed to bullying in work settings. Perceived reasons for the negative behaviours were mainly the undesirable individual characteristics of the bully, prejudices toward bipolar disorder, and already-existing toxic behaviours within the organisation. To reduce bullying, participants suggested that, among others, top management include equal and fair treatment of disadvantaged employees as performance criteria for supervisors and that organisations provide training against bullying, investigate complaints, apply sanctions, and establish an inclusive environment. If organisations set a stable and enduring vision, enhance a common identity for all employees, work on team building, and emphasise team efforts and goals, the organisational environment would be more inclusive, and individuals with BD would have longer work lives.

Labour force transitions and changes in quality of life at age 50–55 years: evidence from a birth cohort study

Abstract In the context of an ageing population and longer working lives, the impact of increasing rates of early exit from the labour force on quality of life is a particularly current concern. However, relatively little is known about the impact on quality of life of later-life labour force transitions and various forms of early exit from the labour force, compared to remaining in employment. This paper examines lifecourse labour force trajectories and transitions in relation to change in quality of life prior to the State Pension Age. Lifecourse data on early life circumstances, labour force trajectories and labour force transitions from 3,894 women and 3,528 men in the National Child Development Study (1958 British Birth Cohort) were examined in relation to change in quality of life, measured by a short-form version of CASP, between the ages of 50 and 55. Women and men differed in the types of labour force transition associated with positive change in quality of life, with men more frequent beneficiaries. For both men and women, labour force exit due to being sick or disabled was associated with a negative change in quality of life, whereas joining the labour force was associated with a positive change in quality of life. Moving into retirement was associated with a positive change in men's quality of life, but not women's. Moving from full-time to part-time employment was associated with a positive change in women's quality of life but not men's. The findings that stand out for their policy relevance are: the threat to the quality of life of both women and men from early labour force exit due to limiting longstanding illness; and women are less likely to experience beneficial labour force exit in the later years of their working life, but are more likely to benefit from a reduction in working hours.

The Extension of Late Working Life in Germany: Trends, Inequalities, and the East-West Divide.

The extension of late working life has been proposed as a potential remedy for the challenges of aging societies. For Germany, surprisingly little is known about trends and social inequalities in the length of late working life. We use data from the German Microcensus to estimate working life expectancy from age 55 onward for the 1941‒1955 birth cohorts. We adjust our calculations of working life expectancy for working hours and present results for western and eastern Germany by gender, education, and occupation. While working life expectancy has increased across cohorts, we find strong regional and socioeconomic disparities. Decomposition analyses show that among males, socioeconomic differences are predominantly driven by variation in employment rates; among women, variation in both employment rates and working hours are highly relevant. Older eastern German women have longer working lives than older western German women, which is likely attributable to the German Democratic Republic legacy of high female employment.

Whale optimization algorithm based MPPT control of a fuel cell system

Renewable energy sources have provided a great contribution to global energy demand; However, their intermittent characteristics can cause sustainability and efficiency problems. To handle these, alternative systems are utilized. Among these, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) stand out with their longer lifecycle, efficient, and cost-effective features. However, their performance depends on operating conditions such as temperature, gas pressure, and membrane water content. These nonlinear features require instant and proper control for maximizing efficiency and longer working life. In this study, a whale optimization algorithm (WOA) based maximum power point tracking (MPPT) controller is utilized for a PEMFC system. To validate the proposed controller, the PEMFC system has been analyzed under changing conditions in the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The proposed method has been compared with the other MPPT methods. The results indicate that the proposed controller can provide accurate and fast MPPT performance, less power fluctuations, and higher production efficiency.

Goldilocks Work Conditions for All Ages: Age-Conditional Effects of Work Design Profiles on Well-Being

Abstract Work design plays an important role in workers’ job-related well-being, but not every employee responds to work design in the same way. Given trends toward longer working lives and higher age diversity in the workforce, worker age is an important factor to consider. However, knowledge about the interplay between worker age and work design is limited, especially when considering the multitude of job characteristics that people experience at the same time. Integrating the work design and lifespan/career development literatures and adopting a person-centered approach, we investigated how worker age affects membership in work design profiles and the relationship between work design profiles and occupational well-being. Using two independent samples (N = 989; 980), we conducted latent profile analysis to group workers into work design profiles based on 6 age-relevant job characteristics (autonomy, information-processing, workload, social support, emotional demands, and social conflicts). We identified 3 profiles and linked them to well-being: motivating (most favorable), moderately stimulating, and socially taxing (least favorable). Older workers were more likely to be in, and responded better to motivating work design profiles, and less likely to be in, and responded worse to socially taxing profiles. Meanwhile, younger workers seemed more tolerant of socially taxing work design profiles than older workers. Most age-contingent effects were robust after adding organizational tenure as a covariate. Findings qualify lifespan development theories and shed light on workers’ nuanced responses to work design profiles.

Special session 2 Working towards a healthy longer working life?

Special session 2 Working towards a healthy longer working life?

The role of familial confounding in the associations of physical activity, smoking and alcohol consumption with early exit from the labour market

We investigated the associations between health behaviors and sustainable working life outcomes including all-cause disability pension, disability pensions due to musculoskeletal and mental diagnoses and unemployment. The role of familial factors behind these associations was studied by analysing discordant twin pairs. Our data included Swedish twins born in 1925–1986 (51891 twin individuals). Baseline data based on two independent surveys in 1998–2003 and 2005–2006 for health behaviors were linked to national registers on disability pension and unemployment until 2016. Cox proportional hazards models for hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated for the whole sample adjusting for covariates. Analyses of health behavior discordant twin pairs (n = 5903 pairs) were conducted using conditional Cox models. In the whole cohort, the combination of healthy behaviors was associated with lower risk for all-cause disability pension, disability pension due to musculoskeletal diagnoses or mental diagnoses, and for unemployment (HRs 0.56–0.86, 95% CIs 0.51–0.92) as did being physically active (HRs 0.69–0.87, 95% CI 0.65–0.92). The discordant pair analyses confirmed the lower risk among those having healthy behaviors (HR 0.70–0.86) or being physically active (HR 0.86–0.87) for all-cause disability pension, disability pension due to musculoskeletal diagnoses, and for unemployment. To conclude, controlling the effects of covariates or familial confounding (i.e. discordant twin pair analyses) shows that being physically active or having several healthy behaviors predict better working life outcomes. This points towards independent association between healthy behavior and longer working life.

Longer working lives – what do they mean in practice – a case of the Baltic countries

PurposeThe article seeks to contribute to a better understanding of older people's situation in the labour market in three Baltic countries – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Three Nordic countries are taken as a reference point to compare the countries in order to better understand the situation from a comparative point of view. The article asks the questions: Does a longer working life for older people contribute to their better economic situation? How satisfied are they with a longer working life and their working conditions? Do they experience any discrimination in the labour market because of their age?Design/methodology/approachIn order to understand the situation of older people in the labour market, the authors employ welfare state models and the Active Ageing Index. The welfare state models help us to understand the context in which the working life of older people is taking place. The Active Ageing Index helps to gain a better understanding of the employment domain of active ageing. The analysis is based on several Europe-wide data sources: statistics on earnings from Eurostat database, information on income, job prospects, occupational safety and health, training, working life perspectives from the European Working Conditions Survey as well as a special survey, conducted by the authors, of Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian residents aged 50 years and older.FindingsAnalysis conducted reveals that in the Baltic countries older employees, although actively participating in the labour market, face unfavourable material, physical and psychological situation in the labour market more frequently than their younger colleagues. The findings show that the most important factors influencing older employees' decision to stay longer in the labour market in the Baltic countries are linked mostly to welfare state-related issues, i.e. financial benefits, healthcare, possibility to reconcile work and family obligations. These welfare state-related issues are even more important for those who are going to stay longer in the labour market after reaching the retirement age.Originality/valueThis article contributes to a better understanding of older (50+) people's situation in the labour market. It suggests that, while the increasing employment of older people increases the Active Ageing Index and is generally viewed positively, in some countries with less developed welfare states high employment rates of older employees, although providing them with an additional means of livelihood, do not ensure a higher quality of life and, on the contrary, act as a factor reducing the quality of work and, at the same time, the quality of life.

Wear Behavior of Spindles of Cotton Picker in Field Work

Abstract Spindles in cotton picking machinery are the key component, wear of the spindles significantly reduces harvest efficiency of the cotton picking process. To improve its wear resistance, the substrate surfaces of spindles are usually electroplated with chromium coating. But the failure process and wear mechanism of the spindle have not been studied so far. In this paper, based on the surface analyses and wear behavior of spindles of a cotton picker in field work, the test results showed that the worn surface was smoother and wear trend of surface topographies tend to consistent along with the rotation direction of the spindle and found a significant reduction in roughness and coating thickness. The coating of the spindle surface has not been damaged in the picking process, the wear mechanism was mainly abrasive wear. After the worn out of surface coating, abrasive wear is always present accompanied by oxidation wear. Multi-oxides were deposited on the substrate surface; the oxide particle was sheared by cotton fiber in the subsequent picking, leading to an increase in surface roughness and aggravating substrate wear. These in filed wear mechanisms and processes of spindles could be of help for the design and surface modification with longer working life.

An Axial and Torsional Percussion Hammer with Considerable Potential to Increase the Drilling Speed of High-Temperature Geothermal Wells

Geothermal energy is a kind of green and sustainable energy and an essential alternative energy in the future. Improving the drilling speed of geothermal wells is helpful for the efficient exploitation of geothermal resources. Axial & Torsional Percussion Hammer (ATPH) was proposed in this paper for drilling enhancement. ATPH can convert the kinetic energy of the drilling fluid to percussion load, and improve the rock-breaking efficiency of the bit. Because of its mechanical seal design, it can operate efficiently at temperatures over 200 °C, which proves that it can be used in geothermal wells. The large eddy simulation (LES) method is chosen to calculate the percussion load characteristics of the ATPH oscillator, including its main frequency and amplitude. In the field drilling experiments of two high-temperature wells, ATPH showed better ROP enhancement ability and longer working life than PDM. In the well interval drilled by ATPH, the maximum temperature at the well bottom reached 202.54 °C.

The Wealth of Generations, with Special Attention to the Millennials

We examine household wealth across birth cohorts and over time using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances. We show that although the Great Recession reduced wealth in every age group, longer-term trends indicate that the wealth of older age groups has increased while the wealth of younger age groups has declined. A substantial share of these changes, in both directions, can be explained by changes in household demographic and economic characteristics. As for the millennial generation, their median wealth in 2016 was lower than the wealth of any similarly aged cohort between 1989 and 2007. Millennials will have several advantages in wealth accumulation relative to previous generations, such as more education and longer working lives, but also several disadvantages, including weak prospects for economic growth and delays in home purchase and marriage. The millennial generation contains a significantly higher percentage of minorities than previous generations. We estimate that minority households have tended to accumulate less wealth than whites in the past, controlling for household characteristics, and the difference appears to be growing over time for Blacks relative to whites. These results apply to the period before the COVID-19 pandemic and are best interpreted as addressing generational wealth patterns through 2016 and providing a pre-COVID benchmark against which future studies can be compared.

WORKING LONGER FOR ACADEMICS IN THE U.S. AND IRELAND: A GENDERED LIFECOURSE ANALYSIS

Many governments including the US and Ireland have been advocating longer working lives for all workers to ensure pension sustainability in the light of population ageing. Policy changes encouraging increased social security/state pensions age reflect this. However, there has been limited investigation of how the gender implications of these policy changes. While longer working lives may be attractive for some workers, there is evidence that women and men have profoundly different work-life trajectories and women may be more financially disadvantaged approaching retirement age. There is a need to explore how this affects their ability and/or desire to continue working past traditional retirement age and their financial security. This presentation is based on analysis of evidence from an EU-funded cross-national research project involving work-life history interviews conducted with forty older workers in academia in the US and Ireland in 2016 and 2017. A lifecourse approach is used to analyse interview data from ten male and ten female academics in Ireland and ten male and ten female academics in the US, aged 50 or over. Participants discussed early influences, work-life history and health concerns. The paper uses a cumulative disadvantage perspective to analyse how gender, family and health trajectories across the life course affect and can limit options around late work and retirement. It concludes that gender differences regarding norms of care-giving are important and that extending working life is more likely to be caused by financial necessity for women. The implications for future research and policy are discussed.

INTEREST GROUP SESSION—AGING WORKFORCE: WORK AND PRODUCTIVE AGING: OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

With much of the world experiencing population aging and a strong need—and desire—among many approaching later life to work longer than past norms, individuals and institutions are experimenting with new ways of working. Yet given the complexities of navigating the work environment in later life, including aspects of cumulative (dis)advantage that help or hinder one’s work prospects, the pull to socially impactful work in the nonprofit sector, and the day-to-day experience of such work in later life, outcomes from this work can vary. Consequently, this symposium will focus on the challenges and opportunities of working longer and their relevance to a productive aging model. The first paper will provide a framework for engaging in the conversation on productive engagement in later life. It will give particular consideration to older workers with lower levels of socioeconomic status in OECD countries. The second paper will discuss results from more than 1,400 surveys of fellows and organizational hosts that have participated in the Encore Fellowships Network, which matches mid- and late-career workers (typically corporate retirees) to non-profit organizations seeking their skills and experience. The third and final paper will reveal findings from an experience sampling methods study of two groups of older adults over the age of 60: founders or leaders of social purpose organizations, and older volunteers. We will conclude by facilitating a discussion on ideas for future scholarship on longer working lives, with particular emphasis on individuals with less advantage as well as those pursuing social purpose work.

GENDER DIFFERENCE IN RETIREMENT TIMING

The aim of this research is to examine the retirement timing of older men and women in the United States and to find what factors impact such timings. This research used the 2014 Health and Retirement Study datasets. A total of 2,401 respondents were included in this research. All of the participants were over 60 years old, half were women, and the majority of participants were full-time workers (81.8%). The dependent variable was expected years until retirement which was measured as a continuous variable, asking when the respondent thinks he/she will stop work or retire. Controlling for age, race, marital status, education, health, full time, and a number of children, the results revealed that males expect to work 1.2 years longer than women. Yet women have reasons for working longer that are not found among men. Older age and poor health predict a sooner retirement for both men and women. Yet women differed from men in wanting longer work lives if they are African American, employed part-time, and have large families. Women are living longer than men, and the labor participation of women is increasing. Older women will have more challenge in preparing for retirement than men due to their greater need to extend work to secure income. Gender differences in expectation for retirement financial security and their effect on retirement timing. Deserves future research, to understand women’s decision making at this life stage.

STUDIES ON ADJUSTMENT TO RETIREMENT: HOW OLDER EUROPEANS NAVIGATE THE RETIREMENT TRANSITION

Retirement is a significant life transition in late adult life that often brings about great changes in individuals’ patterns of everyday activity, social networks as well as one’s economic resources, requiring adjustment for both the retiree and other members of the household. Retirement is a process that starts with a preparatory stage, followed by the actual act of retirement and a post-retirement stage where retirees have to get used to the changing aspects of life that result from the work-retirement transition, and seek to achieve psychological comfort with their retirement life. This symposium brings together empirical research on the various stages of the retirement process, from different national backgrounds. The guiding question is how work and the loss of work affect well-being. Hence, the symposium will give insights into the circumstances under which retirement risks well-being and psychological comfort of older adults. Anna Wanka discusses under which conditions retirement feels right for German retirees, and how this feeling shifts and changes throughout the retirement process. Sarah Dury follows with the post-retirement stage by demonstrating a qualitative perspective of recently retired Belgians about their adjustment, role and activities they exert during post-retirement. Isabelle Hansson examines the role of personality for retirement adjustment in a Swedish sample of older adults. Hanna van Solinge explores the impact of agency in the work-retirement transition on adjustment to a longer working life /retirement and life satisfaction in a Dutch panel study.

Interfacial analysis of vacuum brazing diamond/WC mixed abrasives with Ni[sbnd]Cr[sbnd]B[sbnd]Si active filler

To develop a new generation of super–hard abrasive tools, diamond/tungsten carbide (WC) mixed abrasives were brazed onto AISI 1045 (0.45% C) steel substrate by using NiCrBSi active filler alloy in a high vacuum furnace. The brazing operation was executed at three different temperatures (1010 °C, 1030 °C, and 1050 °C), with different dwelling times (10 min, 15 min, 20 min, 25 min and 30 min). Scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy and X–ray diffraction analysis were used to investigate the interfacial characteristics of the brazed diamond/WC mixed abrasives. The results of microstructural analysis showed that several chemical and metallurgical reactions occurred between NiCrBSi active alloy and diamond/WC mixed abrasives have occurred during the brazing process. Cr3C2 and Cr7C3 compounds were generated at the brazing interface of diamond and the active alloy. At the same time, the Ni2W4C and NiW and Cr7C3 phases were formed between WC and the active alloy. The bonding force test of the brazed joints was carried out and the results demonstrated that the newly developed brazing tools can be applied in the field of iron material processing with high efficiency and longer working life.

The policies, practices and predicaments of senior employment in Hong Kong and Singapore

ABSTRACTThe ageing of populations is an unprecedented worldwide phenomenon that has created anxiety about labour and skill shortages in many developed countries. One way to address these concerns is to extend the working lives of seniors through appropriate retirement, retention and recruitment policies. This paper utilises official policy documentation and employment data to compare the policies, practices and predicaments of senior employment in Hong Kong and Singapore, two of developed Asia's most ageing economies. It finds that while labour force participation rates among Hong Kong seniors have declined since the early 1990s, older workers in Singapore remain largely confined to the secondary labour market. This paper examines why these trends are occurring and whether longer working lives will lead to greater opportunities for ‘active ageing’ in employment or, conversely, force older workers into a reserve army of labour to maintain their incomes.

Measuring dependency ratios using National Transfer Accounts

It is now widely recognised that the socio-economic changes that ageing societies will bring about are poorly captured by the traditional demographic dependency ratios (DDRs), such as the old-age dependency ratio that relates the number of people aged 65+ to the working-age population. Compared to the older people of today, future older generations will be in better health, and will likely work longer. However, strictly from a public finance perspective, the extent to which the DDRs capture the challenges that stem from ageing depends on future changes in the age structure of the population, in behavioural patterns, and in age-related public transfers. Combining population projections and National Transfer Accounts (NTA) data (i.e., data on age-specific public transfers), we construct a ‘transferbased’ demographic dependency ratio for seven European countries up to 2050. We then compare the quantitative impact of the transfer-based DDR with that of the traditional DDR for three different policy responses to population ageing: net immigration, healthy ageing, and longer working lives. This is done by linking agespecific public health transfers and labour market participation rates to changes in mortality. Four main findings emerge. First, the simple old-age dependency ratio overestimates the future public finance challenges faced by the countries studied, and substantially so for some countries, such as Austria, Finland, and Hungary. Second, healthy ageing (i.e., keeping health transfers constant for a given mortality rate) has a modest effect on public finances, except in the case of Sweden, where it plays an important role. Third, the long-run effect of immigration is captured well by the traditional DDR measure if the common assumption that immigrants are similar to natives is maintained. The immediate to short-term impact of immigration tends to be overstated by the traditional DDR measure. Finally, increasing the average length of working life is central to addressing the public finance challenge of ageing. We estimate that extending the average length of working life by three to five years over the next 25 years – roughly in line with the gain in life expectancy – will substantially reduce the impact of ageing on public transfers.

Improvement of hardness and compression set properties of EPDM seals with alternating multilayered structure for PEM fuel cells

In Proton Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells, seals are used to keep intimate contact between all components as well as to keep the reactant gases and liquid within their respective regions. Suitable seal materials should be chosen and designed to sustain the long term operation. In this paper, EPDM seal materials with soft and hard alternating multilayered structure are fabricated through the multilayered co-extrusion system. The structure and morphology of multilayered and blended EPDM vulcanizates were observed by Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results of tensile, hardness, compression set and compression stress relaxation test show that multilayered vulcanizates have lower tensile strength and compression set but higher hardness than blended one. The hardness of multilayered vulcanizates increases with the increase of the layer number, leading to higher sealing force and better dimensional stability. The compression set of multilayered vulcanizates decreases with the increase of the layer number, indicating better sealing capacity and longer working life. The permeability test shows that multilayered materials have nearly same gas permeability property as blended one. The results of aging test reveal that the mechanical properties of EPDM seal materials decrease with time, but multilayered vulcanizates still have lower compression set than blended one after aging.

Some Useful Sources

Issues related to population ageing and longer working lives span diverse research areas and are linked to a number of conceptual and policy debates. Here we provide details of texts which allow quick access to key debates in the different domains covered by the contributions. We focus first on social policy, retirement and pensions. We then provide key sources on the changing experiences and perceptions of retirement; age-discrimination, human resource management and older workers; and early exit, mature-age unemployment and activating older workers.