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

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

Measuring segregation when hierarchy matters

This paper considers the problem of measuring segregation when groups form a hierarchy whereby some groups have greater economic status than others. While existing measures of segregation address the case where people are unequally distributed across groups with the same economic status, concern often focuses on groups with different status, e.g., occupational segregation where women have limited access to high wage occupations. This paper first defines a class of segregation indexes that encompasses both the same economic status and different economic status case. It then proposes two methods for incorporating economic status into empirical work. One is to rank groups from highest to lowest economic status and apply the dominance criteria in Theorem 2. The other is to invoke a cardinal measure of group economic status and then compute a numerical index. Finally, a numerical index of segregation is introduced, and both methods are used to analyze U.S. occupational segregation by gender and ethnicity

"A Path to Good Jobs? Unemployment and Low Wages: The Distribution of Opportunity for Young Unskilled Workers"

Hutchens examines three paths by which a young person with limited academic credentials may avoid a life of unemployment and low wages: obtaining additional formal schooling, securing a job that provides secure employment at "good" wages, or acquiring a job that provides skills and thereby opens a door to good future jobs. He finds that the policy most likely to reduce the supply of unskilled labor would include enhancing early childhood education programs, disbursing training vouchers to young adults, and restricting the immigration of unskilled workers. Owing to the difficulty of identifying jobs, occupations, and industries that would consistently result in financial security for those with limited academic skills, Hutchens concludes that, with few exceptions, demand-side interventions will not work.

Who Among White Collar Workers Has an Opportunity for Phased Retirement? : Establishment Characteristics

Utilizing a new survey of employers, this paper examines how and why establishments differ in their willingness to permit an older full-time white-collar worker to take phased retirement. Phased retirement means that an older worker remains with his or her employer while gradually reducing work hours and effort. Although older workers often express an interest in phased retirement, actual occurrences are evidently rare. A possible explanation is that employers limit opportunities for phased retirement. The survey indicates that employers are often willing to permit phased retirement, but primarily as an informal arrangement. The results also indicate that opportunities for phased retirement are greater in establishments that employ part-time white-collar workers, allow job sharing, and have flexible starting times. Opportunities tend to be more limited in establishments where white collar workers are unionized, and where the establishment is part of a larger organization

Unemployment Insurance and Strikes

In several states workers who are unemployed because of a labor dispute can collect unemployment benefits. Due to imperfect experience rating, such policies can create a public subsidy to strikes. This study examines whether these policies affect strike activity. In particular, both cross-sectional and fixed effects models are employed to test whether an increase in the public subsidy inherent in unemployment insurance leads to an increase in strike frequency

Strikers and Subsidies: The Influence of Government Transfer Programs on Strike Activity

The authors assess laws governing striker eligibility for government transfers, finding evidence linking UI payments to strike activity.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1106/thumbnail.jp

Worker characteristics, job characteristics, and opportunities for phased retirement

This paper uses a telephone survey of 950 employers to examine employer-side restrictions on phased retirement. Not only did the survey collect information on establishment level policies, it also asked questions about a specific worker's opportunity for phased retirement. The paper uses these data to first establish that employers are selective when offering opportunities for phased retirement. It then examines what worker and job characteristics are particularly important in the selection proces

Setting the Stage

The authors assess laws governing striker eligibility for government transfers, finding evidence linking UI payments to strike activity.https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/1106/thumbnail.jp