Who fears and who welcomes population decline?

European countries are experiencing population decline and the tacit assumption in most analyses is that the decline may have detrimental welfare effects. In this paper we use a survey among the population in the Netherlands to discover whether population decline is always met with fear. A number of results stand out: population size preferences differ by geographic proximity: at a global level the majority of respondents favors a (global) population decline, but closer to home one supports a stationary population. Population decline is clearly not always met with fear: 31 percent would like the population to decline at the national level and they generally perceive decline to be accompanied by immaterial welfare gains (improvement environment) as well as material welfare losses (tax increases, economic stagnation). In addition to these driving forces it appears that the attitude towards immigrants is a very strong determinant at all geographical levels: immigrants seem to be a stronger fear factor than population decline.decline, externalities, immigration, population, population policy, preferences

Participation in training at older ages:A European perspective on path dependency in life course trajectories

Investments in lifelong learning may create unsatisfactory results, and this could potentially contribute to the reproduction of inequalities. We argue that the process is related to the accumulation of opportunities and barriers for participation in training, which can lock individuals in disadvantageous path-dependent trajectories. We take a longitudinal approach to analyse whether participation in training in older age is path-dependent, and whether this path dependency is related to institutional contexts. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), we trace individual training trajectories in the population aged 50+ in twelve European countries between 2010 and 2015 (27 370 respondents). Hierarchical Bayesian logit models serve to assess the probability of training during the sixth wave, with a lagged dependent variable as a predictor. Results suggest that training participation is path-dependent and participation in training is limited for people who have not trained previously. It is also related to macrostructural context: path dependency is lower in countries with stronger knowledge economies, stronger emphasis on education, and a proactive ageing climate. Recognising path dependency can help to improve access to training and design policies that address problems of cohesion, active ageing and adult learning

The changing world of work and retirement

This chapter focuses on the changing world of work and retirement. Statistics show that labor force participation of older adults has changed over the past decades. Crude participation rates mask the dynamics that are taking place in the careers of older adults. Under the umbrella of a gradual detachment from the labor force we find many different transitions and trajectories. The evolving landscape surrounding retirement has changed the nature, as well as the meaning current cohorts attach to retirement. The authors propose an agency-within-structure framework for studying late career transitions. In this model, external structural pressures on individual-level agency come from three main sources: the institutional, organizational, and household context. The importance of these driving forces behind work-retirement transitions is discussed. It is questioned to what extent older adults are able to control their work-retirement transition, and to what extent life course agency is structured along the lines of social disadvantage markers.</p

economic research of the Erasmus Universiteit

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How do employers cope with an ageing workforce?

How age-conscious are human resource policies? Using a survey of Dutch employers, we examine how employers deal with the prospect of an ageing work force. We supplement our analysis with an additional survey of Dutch employees to compare human resource policies to practices. Results show that a small minority of employers are taking measures to enhance productivity (training programmes) or bring productivity in line with pay (demotion). Personnel policies tend to ‘spare’ older workers: giving them extra leave, early retirement, or generous employment protection: older workers who perform poorly are allowed to stay, whereas younger workers under similar conditions are dismissed.age/aging, employers, productivity, stereotypes

Understanding motives for international migration:A survey of Dutch retirement migrants in forty destinations

Prior studies have examined why people emigrate from their country of birth during retirement. By focusing on describing motives for international retirement migration, these studies overlook what inhibits or enables people to have particular motives to migrate. We collected data from a representative sample of Dutch nationals aged 66–90 who were born in the Netherlands and migrated after age 50. We distinguish seven—not mutually exclusive—migration motives: longing for tranquillity, the culture in the destination, to start a new life, a better climate, economic reasons, health reasons and dissatisfaction with the origin country. Using Ordinary Least Square regressions, we estimate how people's socioeconomic status, premigration health, premigration residential environment, cultural values and personality traits explain migration motives. We examine how motives relate to destination countries. The results show that there are various motives for which people migrate and that different types of motives are systematically related to the types of people who migrate. For example, people with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to migrate for economic and dissatisfaction motives and less likely to migrate for tranquillity than people with a higher socioeconomic status. By distinguishing migration motives in 12 destinations, we broaden our understanding of out-migration from high-income countries.</p

Understanding motives for international migration:A survey of Dutch retirement migrants in forty destinations

Prior studies have examined why people emigrate from their country of birth during retirement. By focusing on describing motives for international retirement migration, these studies overlook what inhibits or enables people to have particular motives to migrate. We collected data from a representative sample of Dutch nationals aged 66–90 who were born in the Netherlands and migrated after age 50. We distinguish seven—not mutually exclusive—migration motives: longing for tranquillity, the culture in the destination, to start a new life, a better climate, economic reasons, health reasons and dissatisfaction with the origin country. Using Ordinary Least Square regressions, we estimate how people's socioeconomic status, premigration health, premigration residential environment, cultural values and personality traits explain migration motives. We examine how motives relate to destination countries. The results show that there are various motives for which people migrate and that different types of motives are systematically related to the types of people who migrate. For example, people with a lower socioeconomic status are more likely to migrate for economic and dissatisfaction motives and less likely to migrate for tranquillity than people with a higher socioeconomic status. By distinguishing migration motives in 12 destinations, we broaden our understanding of out-migration from high-income countries.</p