Retirement Trajectories Research Articles

RETIREMENT TRAJECTORIES AND HEALTH IN JAPAN

Abstract The relationship between retirement and health is a key issue in aging societies. However, it is unclear whether the nature of retirement from full-time regular employment makes a difference in subsequent health. This study examines the relationship between the trajectory of retirement from full-time regular employment and subsequent health. Using the Longitudinal Survey of Middle-aged and Elderly Persons 2005–2019 collected in Japan, we employ sequence analysis to identify distinct retirement trajectories from full-time regular employment between ages 59 and 66. We then estimate the causal relationship between retirement trajectories and health using instrumental variable methods. Sequence analysis classifies the retirement trajectories into four groups: gradual retirement, abrupt retirement, continued non-standard employment, and continued regular employment. Instrumental variable estimation shows no statistically significant differences in the effects of these retirement trajectories on health, but suggests that gradual retirement may be more beneficial to health than other three retirement trajectories. Several robustness checks also show no statistical difference in the effect of retirement trajectories on health. These findings provide an empirical foundation for understanding the possible implications of heterogenous retirement pathways for health in later life and labor market policies in very old populations.

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF BRIDGE EMPLOYMENT: DO BIRTH COHORTS MATTER?

Abstract A growing number of retirees now engage in bridge employment, a term referring to their continued participation in the workforce post-retirement. The generation in South Korea born between 1945 and 1955, a period marked by leading industrialization and experiencing economic crises during their working age, exhibits unique socioeconomic characteristics distinct from later generations. Consequently, their retirement trajectories diverge significantly from those of later cohorts, including the Baby Boomer generation (born between 1956 and 1965). In this paper, we investigate whether social, demographic, psychological, and health factors are associated with bridge employment and whether this association differs across birth cohorts. Data were drawn from seven waves of the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging, conducted between 2008 and 2020. We employ an integrative framework that considers socioeconomic status, health status, and psychological factors as the main variables to explain the odds of continuing to work after retirement. Retirement status includes three categories: employed, bridge, and total retirement. Results from a multinomial logit model reveal birth cohort differences in the relationship between social/psychological predictors and bridge employment. Additionally, higher educational attainment, a private pension, and poor mental health are associated with decisions regarding bridge employment for the industrialization generation, but not for Baby Boomers. Furthermore, females are more likely to participate in bridge employment than males for the industrialization generation, but not for Baby Boomers. Our findings contribute to the current literature on bridge employment by identifying the social determinants of bridge employment and highlighting the importance of cohort differences in bridge employment.

Health among workers retiring after the state pension age: a longitudinal and comparative study

BackgroundIn recent decades, many countries have observed increasing labor force participation beyond the state pension age (SPA). However, there is a lack of research on employment beyond SPA and how it relates to older workers’ health. Moreover, there is a need to better understand how institutional factors affect the relationship between older workers’ employment and health. In this study, we examine simultaneous employment and health trajectories over 11 years in 12 countries from Europe and the Americas, and study how these trajectories differ by welfare state regime and level of old-age pension redistribution.MethodsWe used a harmonized pooled-country dataset of 3699 older workers based on four representative panel surveys: the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS), and the Chilean Social Protection Survey (EPS). We conducted multichannel sequence analysis to estimate the types of simultaneous employment–health trajectories, and multinomial regression analysis to examine the relationship between trajectory types and institutional factors.ResultsWe found that late retirement was equally associated with poor and good health. There is also a higher prevalence of late retirement trajectories in combination with poor health in liberal welfare regimes and in countries with lower levels of old-age pension redistribution.ConclusionOur study indicates that nonliberal welfare regimes and redistributive old-age pension policies may be better suited to protect vulnerable workers while providing those in good health with the opportunity to work beyond the SPA.

Pathways to Retirement Among Dual Earning Couples

Research indicates significant roles for gradual transitions to full retirement and for coordination between spouses in the typical retirement experience. However, there is little research exploring the potentially important interactions between the two. This paper addresses this gap in the literature and provides a more robust understanding of retirement behavior by examining the transition from full-time work to fully retired among dual earning couples, which we call joint retirement trajectories. We analyze 12 waves of the Health and Retirement Study to map out the distribution of potential pathways that couples undertake when retiring. We aimed to present the fullest picture possible of joint retirement trajectories under the hypothesis that if there were a common, dominant, or typical path, it would emerge. Instead, the consistent finding is variation across couples in the length, sequence, leader, concordance, and labor supply in the move from full-time work to fully retired. Using simple heuristics to classify joint retirement trajectories allows us to gain perspective in the rarity of full simultaneous retirement and motivates future research into the joint use of partial retirement by couples.

Anti-Racism and Health Equity as Missing Values to Productive Aging: Implications for Emerging Professionals

Productive aging scholarship has grown in scope and rigor over the last four decades, yet anti-racism and health equity have not been formally integrated into the conceptual framework. Furthermore, there is a dearth of research that explicates heterogeneity among a growing diverse older adult population. This presentation will integrate anti-racism and health equity as core values to productive aging scholarship in order to explore risk and protective factors to employment, volunteering, and caregiving among a growing diverse older adult population. Part of this presentation will include major findings from longitudinal population-based studies as well as key findings from a Consensus Statement by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) on work and retirement trajectories. Dr. Gonzales will also share professional strategies (e.g., grant submissions, publishing, teaching) with ESPO members who want to center anti-racism, health equity, and social justice in their scholarship.

Using O*NET Linkages to Advance Research: An Example Evaluating Cognitive Function and Work Transitions

The type of work older adults engage in has potential to play a key role in shaping health and wellbeing. In this presentation, using data drawn from an O*NET crosswalk linked with the Health and Retirement Study, I show how different types of transitions out of the workforce shapes cognitive function differently for individuals retiring from different types of occupations. Based on a factor analysis of 36 job-related abilities, activities, and contexts, this paper shows that retirement has a more significant consequence for cognitive function for those who retire from jobs with low levels of cognitive complexity, but no significant consequences for those who retire from jobs with high levels of cognitive complexity. I discuss these results in the context of the ways in which O*NET classifications of jobs can provide critical insights into the potential influence of changing retirement trajectories on wellbeing in later life.

Beyond Hours Worked and Dollars Earned: Multidimensional EQ, Retirement Trajectories and Health in Later Life.

The working lives of Americans have become less stable over the past several decades and older adults may be particularly vulnerable to these changes in employment quality (EQ). We aimed to develop a multidimensional indicator of EQ among older adults and identify EQ and retirement trajectories in the United States. Using longitudinal data on employment stability, material rewards, workers' rights, working-time arrangements, unionization, and interpersonal power relations from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we used principal component analysis to construct an EQ score. Then, we used sequence analysis to identify late-career EQ trajectories (age 50-70 years; N = 11,958 respondents), overall and by sociodemographics (race, gender, educational attainment, marital status). We subsequently examined the sociodemographic, employment, and health profiles of these trajectories. We identified 10 EQ trajectories; the most prevalent trajectories were Minimally Attached and Wealthy (13.9%) and Good EQ to Well-off Retirement (13.7%), however, 42% of respondents were classified into suboptimal trajectories. Those in suboptimal trajectories were disproportionately women, people of color, and less-educated. Individuals in the Poor EQ to Delayed and Poor Retirement and Unattached and Poor clusters self-reported the greatest prevalence of poor health and depression, while individuals in the Wealthy Business Owners and Great EQ to Well-off Retirement clusters self-reported the lowest prevalence of poor health and depression at baseline. Trajectories were substantially constrained for women of color. Although our study demonstrates EQ is inequitably distributed in later life, labor organizing and policy change may afford opportunities to improve EQ and retirement among marginalized populations.

Retirement transitions in the 21st century: A scoping review of the changing nature of retirement in Europe

There are important transformations taking place regarding the ways to transition from work-life to retirement. The timing and pathways are changing and many individuals undergo long periods of being in-between working and retirement life. Yet, our cultural understandings of retirement tend to maintain a clear distinction between pre- and post-retirement life. While the changes in retirement trajectories is not new, the trend seems to have accelerated in recent decades. We focus on what is known from the literature about the tendencies in alternative retirement trajectories of healthy seniors in Europe since 2000.
 We review some conceptual and political transitions in the societal understandings of retirement, followed by a scoping review in three sections: 1) Employment after retirement, 2) Self-employment, and 3) Unretirement. We conclude that while 21st century retirement trajectories are complex and understudied, there are some clear tendencies regarding who engages in such practices and why.

Retirement Trajectories in Countries with Flexible Retirement Policies but Different Welfare Regimes

ABSTRACT We examine how both the welfare regime and health affect retirement trajectories in countries with flexible retirement policies using longitudinal methods and harmonized panel data from two social-democratic (Sweden and Denmark) and two liberal welfare regimes (Chile and the United States). An early retirement trajectory, which represents retirement in the early 60s, is the most frequent in all countries, although it is less prevalent in liberal than in social-democratic regimes. Adverse health conditions are more frequent among early retirees in liberal but not in social-democratic regimes. Overall, we do not find evidence for an inciting effect of flexible retirement policies on working life extension. However, welfare regimes substantially affect late-life labor force participation.

Understanding joint retirement

Evidence from different sources shows that spouses’ retirement decisions are correlated. Retirement policies affecting individuals in couples are therefore also likely to affect behavior of their spouses. It is therefore important to account for joint features in modeling retirement. This paper studies a structural collective model of labor supply and retirement of both partners in a couple with interdependent preferences, imperfect knowledge of preferences of the spouse, and subjective expectations about the future. We propose a novel method to estimate preferences and the intra-household bargaining process, which relies on stated preferences data collected in the Health and Retirement Study. Respondents were asked to choose between hypothetical retirement trajectories describing the retirement ages and replacement rates of both spouses from three perspectives: considering their own preferences only, the preferences of their spouse only, or the most likely decision for the household. With these data, all model parameters are identified and potential sources of joint retirement can be disentangled. Our results suggest that males misperceive their wives’ preferences, overestimating their disutility of work. Our estimates correct for this. We find strong positive correlations between preferences for joint leisure (leisure complementarity) of the two partners. Counterfactual simulations with stylized retirement paths suggest that the leisure complementarities explain a substantial part of joint retirement, much more than correlation in unobserved heterogeneity or potential wage rates.

Retirement Trajectories and Income Redistribution Through the Pension System in Finland

Retirement Trajectories and Income Redistribution Through the Pension System in Finland

The Transition to Retirement Experiences of Academics in "Higher Education": A Meta-Ethnography.

There are increasing numbers of older academics working in Higher Education Institutions worldwide. It is essential that academics' retirement experiences are clearly understood as they tend to have different retirement trajectories than other occupational groups. This meta-ethnography aims to answer the research question "what are the experiences of academics transitioning to retirement" by identifying and synthesizing qualitative research using a meta-ethnographic approach. A systematic literature search was conducted from January 2000 to September 2016 to identify qualitative studies focusing on academics' experiences of retirement. Two reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of included papers. Concepts from each study were translated into each other to form theories, which were then combined through a "line-of-argument" synthesis. Twenty papers were included. Five themes were identified: (a) continuing to work in retirement, (b) the impact of the retirement transition on the academics' identity, (c) changing relationships through the retirement transition, (d) experiencing aging processes, and (e) planning for retirement. For most, retirement is characterized by continuing to work in aspects of their role, maintaining associated relationships, with gradual disengagement from academic activities. For another smaller group, the retirement pathway is experienced as an event, with complete detachment from academic activities. The review highlights that academics transitioning to retirement experience varying retirement pathways. Awareness of the benefits of comprehensive retirement planning programs could enable academics to choose a retirement pathway that facilitates a smooth transition to retirement.

Personality and Employment Transitions at Older Ages: Direct and Indirect Effects Through Non-Monetary Job Characteristics

We study whether individuals with different personality traits systematically exhibit different retirement trajectories. We find weak direct associations between personality and employment transitions. On the other hand, personality does contribute indirectly to these transitions by moderating the effects of non‐monetary job characteristics. Specifically, workers with different traits are observed to follow different retirement paths when faced with similar physical demands, computer skills requirements, job flexibility, and age discrimination in the workplace. Contrary with other economic domains, conscientiousness does not have the strongest association with retirement; the other components of the Big Five personality traits show more salient patterns.

Personality and Employment Transitions at Older Ages: Direct and Indirect Effects through Non-Monetary Job Characteristics.

We study whether individuals with different personality traits systematically exhibit different retirement trajectories. We find weak direct associations between personality and employment transitions. On the other hand, personality does contribute indirectly to these transitions by moderating the effects of non-monetary job characteristics. Specifically, workers with different traits are observed to follow different retirement paths when faced with similar physical demands, computer skills requirements, job flexibility and age discrimination in the workplace. Contrary to other economic domains, conscientiousness does not have the strongest association with retirement; the other components of the Big Five personality traits show more salient patterns.

De-standardisation and differentiation of retirement trajectories in the context of extended working lives in the Netherlands

During recent decades, labour market participation among older workers in the Netherlands has increased significantly. Postponing workers’ labour market withdrawal potentially makes their retirement patterns more uncertain and less predictable. This article uses Dutch register data to analyse de-standardisation and differentiation of retirement trajectories of men and women born between 1940 and 1946 for the age bracket of 59–65 ( N = 12,843). The results indicate that retirement trajectories of men have become more homogeneous, whereas those of women somewhat more heterogeneous. Simultaneously, retirement patterns of both men and women became more complex from one birth year to another.

His way, her way: Retirement timing among dual-earner couples

This article examines how the retirement timing of husbands and wives has evolved in the face of women’s rising economic resources. Using 11 waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study, I trace individuals into retirement, examining how spousal employment characteristics may facilitate or hinder one’s own ability to retire and if such spousal influences have changed across cohorts. Results from event history models indicate that the retirement trajectories have changed for the leading baby boom cohort, as evidence implies they are delaying retirement longer than previous cohorts. Despite women’s rising labor force attachment, the findings do not generally support the notion that wives are influencing their husbands’ retirement timing more or that the influence of husbands on wives’ retirement timing has declined across cohorts.

Predicting End‐of‐Career Transitions for Baby Boomers Nearing Retirement Age

Retirement has traditionally been conceptualized as a point‐in‐time decision to physically and psychologically withdraw from the workforce on reaching a certain age. However, the expectations of older workers demonstrate a new retirement paradigm, with many more retirement trajectories. The purpose of this study was to examine actual career decisions being made by older workers and to understand sociodemographic factors that might differentiate their career trajectories. Data from the Health and Retirement Study (Juster & Suzman, ) were analyzed using multinomial logistic regression to compare 4 retirement trajectories (i.e., no retirement, full retirement, bridge employment, and encore career). Gender, age, education, marital status, health, and wealth differentially predicted the odds of pursuing each of the 4 retirement decisions. Career practitioners may use these results to help baby boomers make retirement decisions and provide them with appropriate education, guidance, and resources. Additional research is needed to examine other factors salient to each of the retirement trajectories.

Stated Preference Analysis of Full and Partial Retirement in the United States

The share of the older workers in the labor force has increased due to population aging and pension reforms in many countries. However, rules of the public and private pension schemes and restrictions from the employers still require large populations of older workers with possibly heteregeneous work preferences to retire fully at a given age. We study the preferences of older people for a rich set of retirement trajectories charactersized by early or delayed full retirement as well as partial retirement at various ages in the Netherlands and the United States. Two in five prefer partial retirement over early or delayed abrupt full retirement. This suggests that partial retirement can substantially increase the utility derived from work in old age. Furthermore, we study the effects of the pension incentives and increasing retirement age on the preferences to delay retirement fully or partially as means of reducing public expenditure. Individuals want to use partial retirement to extend their work lives if deferring pension rights are made actuarially attractive or if pension accruals are made less generous. On the other hand, as the retirement age increases, individuals want to retire early or work part-time instead of full-time. The comparison of the results between the Netherlands and the United States shows that while people in the Netherlands are responsive to a substitution effect of higher pensions, people in the United States are responsive to an income effect of higher pensions.

Retirement Patterns and Income Inequality

How do social policies shape life courses, and which consequences do different life course patterns hold for individuals? This article engages the example of retirement in Germany and Britain to analyze life course patterns and their consequences for income inequality. Sequence analysis is used to measure retirement trajectories. The liberal welfare state in Britain generates more unstable retirement trajectories (differentiated) that are more dissimilar across the population (de-standardized) than the conservative-corporatist welfare state in Germany. Contrary to common conjectures, this is not associated with higher income inequality among retirees in Britain. This study concludes that there is no simple straightforward link between life course patterns and income inequality.

Retirement: Institutional Pathways and Individual Trajectories in Britain and Germany

Since the 1970s people have retired increasingly early across advanced societies. Parallel to this trend, numerous institutional early retirement pathways evolved, such as bridge unemployment and pre-retirement schemes. This article compares retirement in Britain and Germany to show how individuals progress through these institutional retirement pathways. The analysis uses longitudinal data and recent innovations in sequence analysis to capture the sequential nature of retirement as a series of transitions over time. As expected, prominent institutional retirement pathways are mirrored in individual retirement trajectories. Beyond these expected patterns, there are pronounced regularities in individual retirement trajectories outside of explicit institutional pathways. The ‘institution of the family’ is an additional powerful force in structuring women's retirement. Access to advantageous institutional retirement pathways is stratified by gender, education, income, and health. The article concludes that specific population groups, particularly women, are systematically excluded from protective institutional early retirement pathways in Britain and Germany.