Retirement preparedness: A study of gender, marital status, and motivation factors by using a theory of planned behavior model

Although working men and women share common retirement concerns, women encounter unique challenges in securing their retirement. These challenges arise from factors such as part-time work, intermittent work histories, and potential wealth disparities. Marital status also exerts a profound influence on retirement decisions. Marital status significantly impacts their financial security as they approach retirement. This study investigates the intricate relationship between gender, marital status, and theory of planned behavior factors that influence retirement planning among older adults. Utilizing data from the 2014 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and RAND, the research analyzed 2,657 participants aged 50 to 62, all of whom reported full or part-time employment. Also, the research leveraged the theory of planned behavior to examine motivational factors affecting retirement planning. The study's findings highlight the significant association of gender with expected retirement timing, revealing that married women typically anticipate retiring earlier than both unmarried women and men. In addition, older adults who secure retirement resources tend to retire earlier. It is important to develop tailored policies and initiatives to address the specific retirement challenges women face. It is imperative to develop retirement support systems that consider the gender, marital statuses, and retirement resources of older adults, and to give special attention to those who are vulnerable. This study provides valuable insights into the intricate interplay of gender, marital status, retirement motivation factors and retirement planning among older adults.

Career growth opportunities, thriving at work and career outcomes: Can COVID-19 anxiety make a difference?

Based on a two-wave survey of 242 frontline employees from a restaurant company, this study examines, in the COVID-19 setting, how career growth opportunities affect employee career-related outcomes and how these effects may be moderated. It was found that career growth opportunities improved career commitment and reduced career regret via its boosting effect on employee thriving at work. The survey results also showed that the impact of career growth opportunities on thriving (directly), and on career commitment and career regret (indirectly), is heightened by employee anxiety triggered by COVID-19. This indicates that career growth opportunities are most needed and most beneficial for shaping employees’ career outcomes when they experience high levels of COVID-19 anxiety.

Occupational commitment from a life span perspective

Purpose

The purpose of this review is to integrate and organize past research findings on affective, normative and continuance occupational commitment (OC) within an integrative framework based on central life span concepts.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors identified and systematically analyzed 125 empirical articles (including 138 cases) that examined OC with a content valid measure to the here applied definition of OC. These articles provided information on the relationship between OC and four distinct life span concepts: chronological age, career stages, occupational and other life events, and occupational and other life roles. Furthermore, developmental characteristics of OC in terms of construct stability and malleability were reviewed.

Findings

The reviewed literature allowed to draw conclusions about the mentioned life span concepts as antecedents and outcomes of OC. For example, age and tenure is more strongly positively related to continuance OC than to affective and normative OC, nonlinear and moderating influences seem to be relevant in the case of the latter OC types. The authors describe several other findings within the results sections.

Originality/value

OC represents a developmental construct that is influenced by employees’ work- and life-related progress, associated roles, as well as opportunities and demands over their career. Analyzing OC from such a life span perspective provides a new angle on the research topic, explaining inconsistencies in past research and giving recommendation for future studies in terms of dynamic career developmental thinking.

Job Satisfaction, Retirement Attitude and Intended Retirement Age: A Conditional Process Analysis across Workers' Level of Household Income

In the contemporary workplace, insight into retirement behaviors is of crucial importance. Previous empirical evidence has found mixed results regarding the relationship between work attitudes, such as job satisfaction, and retirement behaviors, suggesting that further scholarly examination incorporating moderating and mediating variables into retirement models is needed. Drawing on comparative models of attitude to retirement, we hypothesized a direct relationship between job satisfaction and intended retirement age for workers with a high household income and an indirect relationship between job satisfaction and intended retirement age, via retirement attitude, for workers with a low or mean household income. We collected data from a sample of 590 United Kingdom workers aged 50+. Using conditional process analysis, we found that the underlying mechanisms in our research model differ according to socio-economic status. We found no direct effect between job satisfaction and intended retirement age. However, an indirect effect was observed between job satisfaction and intended retirement age, via retirement attitude, for both low- and mean-household income individuals. Specifically, the relationship between job satisfaction and retirement attitude differed according to socio-economic group: for high-household income older workers, there was no relationship between job satisfaction and retirement attitude. However, for low- and mean-household income older workers, we observed a negative relationship between job satisfaction and retirement attitude. Otherwise stated, increases in job satisfaction for mean and low household income workers are likely to make the prospect of retirement less attractive. Therefore, we argue that utmost care must be taken around the conditions under which lower income employees will continue their work when getting older in order to protect their sustainable employability.

Goal Expectations as Predictors of Retirement Intentions

The current study explored the contribution of personal goals to retirement decisions. A SMARTER methodology (to assess multiattribute utility) and taxonomy of human goals were used to investigate the relationship between older workers' personal goals and their retirement intentions. Two hundred and fifty-one employees of a large university, varying in age from 55 to 77, were asked to indicate the relative importance of 29 goals and to indicate the utility they perceived in continued work and retirement as a means to achieve these goals. The results demonstrate that goal evaluations are important predictors of retirement intentions. Furthermore, goal evaluations provide an important and unique contribution to predicting retirement intentions beyond that predicted by personal and demographic variables. These results have implications for pre-retirement education and workplace application.

A Longitudinal Study of Work After Retirement: Examining Predictors of Bridge Employment, Continued Career Employment, and Retirement

Older employees are increasingly accepting bridge employment, which occurs when older workers take employment for pay after they retire from their main career. This study examined predictors of workers' decisions to engage in bridge employment versus full retirement and career employment. A national sample of 482 older people in the United States was surveyed regarding various work-related and nonwork related predictors of retirement decisions, and their retirement status was measured 5 years later. In bivariate analyses, both work-related variables (career goal achievement and experienced pressure to retire) and nonwork-related variables (psychological distress and traditional gender role orientation) predicted taking bridge employment, but in multinomial logistic regression, only nonwork variables had unique effects. Few predictors differentiated the bridge employed and fully retired groups. Nonwork variables were salient in making the decision to retire, and bridge employment may be conceptually more similar to full retirement than to career employment.

The Prevalence and Distribution of Aging-Friendly Human Resource Practices

The aging of the workforce in the developed world has prompted organizations to implement human resource (HR) policies and practices encouraging older workers to defer retirement. However, little is known about the prevalence of such practices, and the organizational factors associated with their adoption. In this study, we used data collected from 2008 to 2009 from a national probability sample of retirement eligible workers in the United States (N = 407) to assess the prevalence of aging-friendly human resource practices (AFHRP), and their organizational predictors. Results indicate that employee wellness programs, unpaid leave, and reassignment based on physical needs are among the most prevalent AFHRP. However, in the vast majority of enterprises, AFHRP are limited. Results also indicate that projected organizational growth and a focus on internal labor market practices are positively associated with the adoption of AFHRP. Organizational size and the degree of unionization, while positively associated with aging-friendly benefits, were inversely associated with flexibility practices.

To stop or not to stop: an empirical assessment of the determinants of early retirement among active and retired senior teachers

While the official retirement age for most Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries is 65 years, the average employee in the majority of OECD countries retires considerably earlier. With the coming retirement of the baby boom generation, increasing life expectancy, and budget restrictions due to the financial crisis, most countries want to motivate employees to work longer. For these reasons, studying early retirement is highly relevant. In this article, we examine the determinants of early retirement among working and retired senior teachers between 45 and 65 years old in Flanders, Belgium. Although a widespread early exit culture exists among teachers and teacher shortages are expected in several countries, little attention has been given to the specific determinants of early retirement among teachers. Using multivariate linear regression analysis, we study the preferred retirement age of working teachers (n = 1,878) and the actual retirement age of retired teachers (n = 1,246). Financial factors, feelings of emotional exhaustion, and dissatisfaction with nonteaching-related workload (such as meetings and paperwork) have an important influence on the retirement decision. Results show that the majority of teachers make use of early exit schemes. This illustrates the existence of a widespread early exit culture among senior teachers in Flanders.

Individual and institutional push and pull factors as predictors of retirement timing in Europe: A multilevel analysis

The number of retired people in Europe has increased significantly in recent decades. It remains unclear, however, whether individuals are more likely to be pulled toward retirement by their expectations about life after retirement than they are to be pushed out of the labour market due to poor health or dislike of one's job. The fact that retirement timing differs rather considerably between European countries suggests that not only micro, but also macro push (i.e. labour market constraints) and pull (i.e. economic incentives) factors influence retirement decisions. This duality heightens the need to determine the influence of micro-level and macro-level push and pull indicators on the retirement timing of older workers (50+) in Europe. Results are obtained performing multilevel event history analysis using longitudinal micro data from the first (2004/05) and second (2006/07) waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe and macro data derived from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and Eurostat. The results indicate that at the individual level, older workers are pushed out due to health problems as well as being attracted towards retirement to spend time with their grandchildren. At the institutional level, financial incentives such as a high implicit tax on continued work and high expenditures on early exit schemes make retirement attractive, whereas the institutional push context is of lesser importance.

Is poor mental health a risk factor for retirement? Findings from a longitudinal population survey

PURPOSE

Poor mental health may influence people's decisions about, and ability to, keep working into later adulthood. The identification of factors that drive retirement provides valuable information for policymakers attempting to mitigate the effects of population ageing. This study examined whether mental health predicts subsequent retirement in a general population sample, and whether this association varied with the timing of retirement.

METHODS

Longitudinal data from 2,803 people aged 45-75 years were drawn from five waves of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. Discrete-time survival analyses were used to estimate the association between mental health and retirement. Mental health was measured using the Mental Health Index (MHI-5). The relative influences of other health, social, financial, and work-related predictors of retirement were considered to determine the unique contribution of mental health to retirement behaviour.

RESULTS

Poor mental health was associated with higher rates of retirement in men (hazard rate ratio, HRR 1.19, 95% CI 1.01-1.29), and workforce exit more generally in women (HRR 1.14, 95% CI 1.07-1.22). These associations varied with the timing of retirement and were driven by early retirees specifically. Physical functioning, income, social activity, job conditions (including job stress for women and job control for men), and aspects of job satisfaction also predicted subsequent retirement.

CONCLUSIONS

Poor mental and physical health predict workforce departure in mid-to-late adulthood, particularly early retirement. Strategies to accommodate health conditions in the workplace may reduce rates of early retirement and encourage people to remain at work into later adulthood.

Retirement intentions: what is the role of push factors in predicting retirement intentions?

Population ageing will significantly impact labour markets in most Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries and as a result individuals will need to remain in paid employment for longer to fund their retirement years. This study examines the retirement intentions of employees of a large public-sector organisation located in Victoria, Australia that was interested in developing policies to assist with retention of their mature-age workforce. Multivariate regression analyses were used to identify the most important predictors of intention to retire. The dependent variable, Intended timing of retirement, was analysed in two forms, as continuous and dichotomised measures. Age and Length of service were strong independent predictors of Intention to retire soon (within five years). Of the work factors that were analysed (Job satisfaction, Job demands, Job control, and Social cohesion), low Job satisfaction and high Social cohesion scores indicated an increased likelihood of retiring soon. The results provide some insight into the development of organisational interventions that might assist with retaining older employees for longer.

Turning the tide: Registered nurses' job withdrawal intentions in a Finnish university hospital

Orientation: Given the global shortage of registered nurses, it is important to investigate the intentions for job withdrawal of nurses, and resolve these, in order to retain nurses in the field.Research purpose: The objective was to examine the intentions for job withdrawal of ageing and younger nurses, and the antecedents of these intentions, with special reference to job control and perceived development opportunities. The age of 45 was adopted as a starting point when referring to ageing employees.Motivation for the study: Different forms of job withdrawal have rarely been studied together and associated.Research design, approach and method: A quantitative study was applied with logistic regression analyses. Respondents were registered nurses working in a university hospital in Finland. The response rate was 46.1% (N = 343).Main findings: A quarter (25%) of the nurses had frequently thought about leaving the profession and 19% of the nurses had thought about taking early retirement. Factors that increased the likelihood of intentions for occupational turnover were young age, low job satisfaction, low organisational commitment, low work ability and skills in balance with or above present work demands. The intention to take early retirement was increased with older age, being male, working shifts, low work ability, low job satisfaction and poor job control.Practical/managerial implications: A nurse’s job satisfaction and work ability should be regularly monitored and opportunities should be offered them, to apply their skills and to control their work, in order to retain them.Contribution/value–added: The article added information about the factors that contribute to a nurse’s intentions for job withdrawal.

Retirement and Wealth Relationships

Meta-analytic procedures were used to examine relationships between objective income (OI), perceived adequacy of income, and retirement and their consequences. The authors’ review of the literature generated 90 independent samples obtained from 71 primary studies with 115,129 participants, which provided 136 independent effect sizes (ESs). A high effect size ( r = .37) was found for the subjective income–retirement planning relation and a medium ES ( r = .29) for the OI–retirement planning relation. Regarding retirement consequences, both objective and subjective incomes were positively related to retirement adjustment indicators, with low ES for OI–life satisfaction, OI–retirement income satisfaction, and retirement satisfaction. Structural equation analysis using the pooled correlation matrix allowed testing a more complex model. Potential moderator variables were examined, and it was found that they explained only a small percentage of variability of primary studies. Results and theoretical and empirical implications are discussed.

Life-Career Re-Engagement: A New Conceptual Framework for Counselling People in Retirement Transition—Part I

New ideas and perspectives are needed to form effective counselling strategies and approaches in an effort to promote and enhance the psychological well-being of individuals in retirement transition. This article suggests that counselling in this context can be considered a special helping intervention for life-career development aiming at helping clients to explore and to acquire a sense of renewed vocation in the retirement phase of their lives. In keeping with this intent, the article proposes the new conceptual framework of life-career re-engagement (LCRE) by expanding on the work of Donald Super (1957, 1990).

Early and late retirement exits

The current study proposes that personal need fulfillment (relatedness, generativity, identity, growth, and finances) predicts early and late retirement intentions. The personal needs of 160 full-time older employees were measured by personal goals, job satisfactions, job characteristics, and intrinsic motivation. Results suggest that the personal needs fulfilled by job employment remain important in retirement. The expectation for personal need fulfillment for identity, growth, and relatedness shifts from work to retirement for those who intend to retire early. The results are discussed in terms of the need for greater study of the relationship between expectations of personal need fulfillment, worker self-concept, and retirement decisions.

The choice between retirement and bridge employment: a continuity theory and life course perspective

The rapid aging of the workforce in most developed countries, and the strengthening presence of bridge employment among older employees, has brought about a need for a deeper theoretical and practical understanding of this employment phenomenon. This study examined the concept of bridge employment from a continuity theory and life course perspective. Several personal and job-related antecedents of 539 middle-aged and older U.S. Federal Government employees' intentions of full retirement or engagement in bridge employment were investigated. A multinomial logistic regression analysis provided support for most of the hypotheses on the antecedents of full retirement and overall bridge employment intentions and hence offered several practical implications for the U.S. Federal Government, as well as other governmental employers. Implications of these results are discussed from a continuity theory and life course perspective.

Employees' Intentions to Retire Early

This study investigated the early retirement intentions of 346 older Dutch employees by extending the theory of planned behavior with anticipated work conditions. The results showed that employees who felt a pressure from their spouse to retire early had a strong intention to leave the work force before the official retirement age, that is 65. Also, employees' retirement attitude and perceived control over the retirement decision were related to early retirement intentions. Finally, the results indicated that employees might postpone early retirement when they anticipate working in a challenging and rewarding work environment. Together, our findings suggest a number of ways in which organizations can affect employees' early retirement decision making.

Determinants of early retirement intentions among Belgian nurses

AIM

This paper is a report of a study to gain insight into older nurses' retirement intentions and to establish factors determining early retirement intention in these individuals.

BACKGROUND

In many developed countries, the working population is ageing. This will lead to a structural labour shortage in the near future. In nursing, this is already taking place. To retain nurses in employment, information on the determinants of their early retirement intentions are imperative.

METHOD

A cross-sectional study was carried out in 2005 in one Belgian hospital. Data were collected by questionnaire with 100 nurses aged 45 or older. The response rate was 69.9%.

FINDINGS

No fewer than 77% of the nurses wanted to stop working before the age of 65 years. The following individual, work-related, and organizational factors contributed to older nurses' intention to retire early: perceived health, marital status, gender, opportunities for change and development, workload, and negative stereotyping of older employees.

CONCLUSION

Our findings offer insight regarding the influencing factors of early retirement intentions in nurses. This information may be useful to human resource managers and may enable them to successfully prevent early retirement in nurses. More research on this topic is needed as this will enable the development, implementation and evaluation of well-founded measures for retaining older nurses in the workplace.

Predictors of Perceptions of Involuntary Retirement

PURPOSE

Retirement is often treated as a voluntary transition, yet selected circumstances can restrict choice in retirement decision processes. We investigated conditions under which retirees perceive their retirement as "forced" rather than "wanted."

METHODS

Analyses relied on Waves 1-4 of the Health and Retirement Survey (N=1,160; 572 men and 588 women). Logistic regression models estimated the effects of background factors, choice and restricted choice conditions, and retirement contexts on perceptions of forced retirement.

RESULTS

Nearly one third of older workers perceived their retirement as forced. Such forced retirement reflects restricted choice through health limitations, job displacement, and care obligations. Other predictors include marital status, race, assets, benefits, job tenure, and off-time retirement.

IMPLICATIONS

Future research should establish personal and policy implications of forced retirement. Programs are needed to help older workers forced into retirement find alternative employment opportunities and to reduce the conditions leading to forced retirement.