Labor force participation rates of men age 55 and over, annual averages, 1963-2003

A chart of labor force participation rates of men age 55 and over, by age group, annual averages, 1963–2003 by Robert Hutchens, PhD, School of Industrial and Labor Relations Cornell University, on behalf of the event: What an Aging Workforce Can Teach Us About Workplace Flexibility held on July 18, 2005 by Workplace Flexibility 2010

Labor force participation rates of women age 55 and over, annual averages, 1963-2003

A chart of labor force participation rates of women age 55 and over, by age group, annual averages, 1963–2003 by Robert Hutchens, PhD, School of Industrial and Labor Relations Cornell University, on behalf of the event: What an Aging Workforce Can Teach Us About Workplace Flexibility held on July 18, 2005 by Workplace Flexibility 2010

Population Pyramids for the United States

A chart of Population Pyramids for the United States by Robert Hutchens, PhD, School of Industrial and Labor Relations Cornell University, on behalf of the event: What an Aging Workforce Can Teach Us About Workplace Flexibility held on July 18, 2005 by Workplace Flexibility 2010

ILR Impact Brief - Phased Retirement: Opportunities for Some but Not for All

Nearly three-quarters of employers surveyed indicate that some form of phased retirement could be worked out for white-collar employees aged 55 and older. Workers’ willingness to take advantage of this option, however, may diminish when employers\u27 terms and conditions are factored in. In other words, the majority of white-collar workers are presented with constrained opportunities for phased retirement when the possibility arises

Will The Real Family-Friendly Employer Please Stand Up: Who Permits Parents To Reduce Working Hours For Purposes of Childcare?

Balancing work and family life can be a challenge, especially when a person needs to adjust her work schedule to deal with a family crisis. If the crisis involves a long term problem, such as caring for a sick or injured child that requires several months of care, the balancing act can require major shifts in the role an employee plays in a firm. This paper examines how an employer reacts to such a family-work issue: an employee who want to move from full-time to part-time in order to care for a young child. Most empirical work in this area deals with formal policies such as maternity leave, paternity leave, or leave beyond that required by the Family and Medical Leave Act and maps the type of formal policies a firm has into some "family-friendly" index. Switching from full-time to part-time is usually an informal process and it is not obvious how a firm ranking high on an index based of formal "family-friendly" policies would respond to such a request. Indeed, organizations with codified formal policies may be precisely the kinds of employers who do not permit such a shift from full-time to part-time. This is in fact what we find. Larger organizations are much more likely to provide formal policies such as paid maternity and paternity leave, while establishments that are not part of larger organizations are more likely to permit an employee to shift to part-time in order to care for a young child. These results suggests that family-friendly indexes that are based on formal policies may be unfairly labelling smaller firms "unfriendly" towards families simply because they use informal approaches to deal with family crises.

Government Transfer Payments and Strike Activity: Reforming Public Policy

[Excerpt] One of the most controversial labor policy issues is whether strikers should be eligible for government transfer payments, such as unemployment compensation, public assistance, and food stamps. The controversy often focuses on whether payment of such benefits to strikers increases the magnitude of strike activity. In this article, we argue that that is the wrong focus. The key issue is not whether strikers receive benefits, but who finances them. We contend that to the extent that the benefits are financed by the parties to the conflict (the employer and union), the transfers will not affect strike activity. This article extends our recent book on this topic, by briefly describing current and past policies, summarizing our argument for why financing is key, and presenting a proposal for reforming strike-related government transfers

Who is Most Likely to Fear Financial Collapse

§The United States has the largest economy in the world and yet Americans are often worried or concerned about the state of the economy and the effect of the economy on their lives. In this paper I examine the complex relationships between groups of people and their fear and opinion of financial collapse; specifically looking into the rationale and influences behind those opinions. Using the Chapman University American Fears Survey, I found a strong correlation between low income and fear of financial collapse, especially amongst those who make less than fifty thousand dollars a year. Education is also shown to affect opinions and severe concern about financial collapse. I find that low-income Americans are more likely to fear economic collapse due to their already unfortunate financial position, and lack of backup capital. I also find that those who watch Fox News and consume more information on social media are more worried about the economy than those who don’t. Finally, I find that those who have other economic fears such as fears of not having enough money in the future, and fear of not being able to pay off a mortgage or rent are much more likely to fear financial collapse. Although a future of perfect economic stability in the United States is unrealistic, the impact and reasoning behind the fear of the economy itself may influence Americans to think about how they view the economy and their financial decisions moving forward