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

Impact of Retirement on Sleep Problems among Older Workers and Their Partners

Background and Objectives: Sleep problems are a public health burden and have adverse health consequences in older adults. Despite sleep being a shared biological process between couples, to date, there have not been any studies that have assessed the association between retirement and sleep in older couples. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of retirement on diagnosed sleep problems in older Dutch couples. Research Design and Methods: This study used data from 2 waves of the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute Pension Panel Study for older Dutch adults living with a partner (n = 3,726). Logistic regression models examined the strength of association between retirement and sleep problems, while accounting for the moderating role of relationship characteristics. Results: Retirement was associated with decreased odds of sleep problems at Wave 2 (odds ratio [OR] = 0.60, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] = 0.46-0.78). Lower relationship quality was associated with increased odds of sleep problems in the fully adjusted model (OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.32-2.49). Having a partner with sleep problems was associated with an increased risk of sleep problems as well (OR = 1.51, 95% CI = 1.07-2.13). There was evidence of effect modification by relationship quality (OR = 1.87, 95% CI = 1.05-3.31). Discussion and Implications: Retirement and sleep do not occur in a social vacuum and have implications beyond the individual level. More research is therefore needed to understand the impact of sleep and its health consequences on older coupled workers. Such research may provide valuable insights for the management and treatment of sleep problems and may have implications for the public health of aging communities

Children of the Revolution:The Impact of 1960s and 1970s Cultural Identification on Baby Boomers' Views on Retirement

There is widespread speculation that baby boomers will make significant changes to the retirement landscape. Some attribute these changes, at least in part, to countercultural movements this generation pioneered during the sixties and seventies. However, empirical investigation into the long-term impact of countercultural identification in youth is scarce. To address this, our study examines associations between baby boomers’ retirement views and identification with counterculture. Using data from 6024 pre-retired Dutch older workers, we investigate whether greater identification with counterculture is associated with more active retirement views. Our results show that greater identification with counterculture is associated with more active retirement views, even when controlling for potential confounders. Beyond highlighting the diversity of the baby boom generation, these findings support the idea that (counter)cultural identity in youth has an impact across the life course and may therefore have implications for other key questions of life’s third age beyond retirement

Adaptation or Exploration? Understanding Older Workers' Plans for Post-Retirement Paid and Volunteer Work

Numerous investigations have sought to understand the types of individuals who engage in post-retirement work. However, little is known about why older adults are motivated to engage. The aim of the present article is to examine the extent to which two possible mechanisms—adaptation (adjusting to the loss of work role) and exploration (retirement as opportunity to engage in activities in line with personal values)—play a role in explaining planning for paid work or volunteering after retirement. Analyses are based on large-scale survey data collected in 2015 among older workers in the Netherlands (N = 6,278). Results show that the large majority of older Dutch workers have plans for post-retirement paid and/or volunteer work. Moreover, both mechanisms appear to contribute to the understanding of post-retirement work plans, yet in different ways. Specifically, older workers who expect to miss latent work functions are more likely to have plans for post-retirement work, with their general values guiding the type of work they gravitate toward. Having plans for post-retirement paid work was more prevalent among older workers who attached more importance to personal growth, whereas having plans for volunteer work was more prevalent among older workers who had a stronger social orientation. Moreover, results suggest that men, more often than women, translate the anticipated loss of latent work functions into plans for post-retirement paid work. These insights regarding the motivational antecedents of post-retirement work plans are highly relevant in light of policy discussions of active and healthy aging

Who opts for self-employment after (early) retirement?

Abstract Governments that attempt to extend the working lives of their citizens may consider promoting bridge employment. Self-employment in particular, may be an instrument in postponing the age at which workers finally leave the labour market. A NIDI panel study among older workers in the Netherlands revealed that one in every three retirees re-entered the labor market after (early) retirement. Post-career transitions into selfemployment are increasingly common. In this paper we explore the various trajectories older adults may choose in their pathway into full retirement. How common is the transition into self-employment after (early) retirement? What motives drives this transition? To what extent is the decision to become self-employed determined by the lack of opportunities for paid employment offered by employers. The results of this study do not support this &apos;necessity hypothesis&apos;. Instead, the results point in the direction of the &apos;opportunity hypothesis&apos;. At least in the period under study, the self-employment option was primarily chosen by retirees with relatively high social capital (wealth &amp; educational attainment) as well as entrepreneurial attitudes (high scores on self-efficacy). The fact that their retirements were overall quite early, but not considered involuntary, suggests that the timing of the decision to retire may be driven by the emergence of new (business) opportunities