The Analysis of Predictors of Retirement Preferences over Time

Due to rapid demographic ageing and to sustain its pension system, the Netherlands recently initiated a pension reform that increased the retirement age, with the intention to increase labour force participation among older workers. However, there is little evidence on the preferences of workers concerning their retirement age, and on how these preferences have changed over time. To identify personal and work-related determinants of the preference toward earlier or later retirement, and how these determinants and preferences have changed over time. We use data from three consecutive measurements (waves) of a large Dutch panel. Ordered logit regression is used to investigate the predictors of retirement preferences. Analyses are performed for two groups; all workers and a subsample of workers aged 50 years or older. Furthermore, the analyses are performed for each wave separately and for the combined dataset. A preference for later retirement is primarily related to university education, high job satisfaction, and high income. Age is only positively related to later retirement among older workers. Earlier retirement is preferred by female workers and workers living with a partner. The preference toward an earlier retirement age has increased over time. The preferences toward retirement can be primarily explained by personal characteristics, job satisfaction, and net income. Furthermore, with the increase in the retirement age defined by current legislation, the preference for an earlier retirement age has increased over time.

Age-Diversity Practices and Retirement Preferences Among Older Workers: A Moderated Mediation Model of Work Engagement and Work Ability

To meet the demographic changes, organizations are challenged to develop practices that retain older workers and encourage them to postpone retirement. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of human resources (HR) practices in retirement preferences of older workers. Drawing on theories on lifespan development and social exchange, we suggest that organizations can facilitate longer working lives by implementing bundles of HR practices that are sensitive to age-related changes in workers' skills, preferences, and goals - i.e., age-diversity practices. We posit that age-diversity practices are positively related to work engagement that, in turn, relates to the preference for retiring later. We further suggest that work ability moderates the relationship between age-diversity practices and work engagement. Finally, we propose a moderated mediation model in which the mediated relationship is moderated by work ability. A sample of 232 older Portuguese workers completed a questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested by using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings show that work engagement completely mediates the relationship between age-diversity practices and the preference for early or late retirement. Moreover, this mediating relationship is more important for those workers who experience low work ability. Results further demonstrate that the effect of age-diversity practices on the preference for retiring later via work engagement is stronger for lower levels of work ability. This study highlights the organizational role in promoting longer and healthier working lives through the implementation of age-supportive HR practices.

Better Understanding the Workers' Retirement Decision Attitudes: Development and Validation of a New Measure

The aim of the present research was to develop a measure that could be used in future research for in-depth study of the psychological management of retirement. We report the results of six studies involving 1,898 French workers designed to develop and assess the psychometric properties of a new instrument named the Workers' Retirement Motivations Inventory (WRMI) using the push pull anti-push anti-pull model. The items were constructed based on a review of the relevant psychological literature and face-to-face interviews with senior workers. A combined method of exploratory structural equations modeling and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed and provided evidence for validating this structure of the inventory. The WRMI showed consistency of the four-factor structure across different samples, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and predictive validity of workers' plans for retirement. Implications of these findings and avenues for counseling activities and future research are discussed.

Expected Lifetime in Different Employment Statuses: Evidence From the Economic Boom-and-Bust Cycle in Spain

This article analyses the impact of the recent economic crisis on the expected time spent in different employment statuses in Spain. Using data from the Economically Active Population Survey and life tables, we estimate the expected time in work, unemployment, retirement, and other types of economic inactivity during the economic boom-and-bust cycle. Differences in expected years of life spent in different employment statuses are decomposed into effects of mortality and employment behavior. Our results show that men's working life expectancy is much more exposed to economic fluctuations. The impact of the ebbs and flows of the business cycle among women is mitigated by the long-term female trend of growing participation in the labor market associated with the increasing educational attainment of women. In addition, the improvement in mortality only partially contributes to gains in time spent in each status, while the main effects correspond to changes in labor market participation.

Are managers open to involvement in employee retirement? The influence of manager psycho-social characteristics, decision-making environment and older employee situational factors

The changing retirement landscape calls on employers to develop practices that respond to individuals’ retirement needs. Line managers are a key stakeholder in managing retirement and this study focuses on how they respond to employee retirement scenarios. This empirical work examines manager openness to involvement in retirement, focusing on three sets of explanatory variables: manager psycho-social characteristics (experience of managing older workers, intention to work past 65), their decision-making environment (influence, discretion and decision-making support) and older employee situational factors (performance, ease of replacement, retirement affect and attitude to work). Data were collected from 129 managers in the United Kingdom's university sector using survey items and a factorial vignette design. The multi-level analysis found support for each category of variables in predicting manager openness to involvement in employee retirement. Managers with more experience of managing older workers were more likely to be open to involvement although managers’ own retirement intentions were not significant as a predictor. Decision-making environment variables were significant predictors of manager openness to involvement. The only older employee situational factor that was associated with manager openness to involvement was employee performance. Practically, organisations need to recognise the potential influence that managers have on employee retirement decisions and this study's findings show that managers may need training to help them understand their own role in supporting older employee retirement.

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.

Development and Validation of the Transition to Retirement Questionnaire

The aim of this study was to present the initial validation of a new questionnaire, the Transition to Retirement Questionnaire (TRQ) and to study its relationship with resistance to change and personality dimensions. Based on Schlossberg’s typology of the retired, the TRQ is designed to assess five dimensions related to personal perceptions of transition to retirement, retirement, and personal plans and activities. The sample consisted of 1,054 professionally active or retired adults from the Swiss French-speaking Canton of Vaud. Exploratory principal components and confirmatory factor analyses highlighted a five-factor solution that fit coherently with Schlossberg’s typology. Moreover, TRQ dimensions were related to resistance to change tendencies and personality dimensions. The TRQ seems to be an interesting tool for use in research but also for interventions with young retirees or people preparing for retirement.

Work-related factors as predictors in the retirement decision-making process of older workers in the Netherlands

This article examines work-related factors and their impact on the retirement decision-making process. We particularly focus on organisational human resources policies and normative climate regarding retirement. Organisations create opportunities and conditions for career extension via their personnel instruments. The normative climate may encourage or discourage retirement. We use a ten-year follow-up study among 1,458 older employees in the Netherlands aged 50–59 at baseline. Results reveal that older workers are sensitive to social approval earned from their co-workers and supervisor. A social climate that supports working up to higher ages is an important requisite for reducing the attractiveness of the early retirement option. Retirement intentions, formed in the years prior to retirement, are shaped by workplace norms and supervisors' attitudes. Results indicate that in order to delay retirement, policy initiatives cannot be reduced to altering financial restrictions surrounding retirement but need to address the forces at the organisational level that channel workers out of employment.

The Influence of the Early Retirement Process on Satisfaction with Early Retirement and Psychological Well-Being

The present study explores the influence of the early retirement process on adjustment to early retirement, taking into account the roles of individual characteristics and social context in this process. We proposed a systematic model integrating perceived ability to continue working, organizational pressures toward early retirement and group norms about early retirement as antecedents of the early retirement process and subsequent satisfaction with early retirement and psychological well-being. In addition, we examined the moderating role of the voluntariness of the early retirement transition in the proposed model. Our hypotheses were tested using a sample of 213 early retirees. We found that while high organizational pressures were related to lower retirement age, low perceived ability to continue working and group norms favorable to early retirement were related to higher levels of early retirement intentions. Furthermore, group norms favorable to early retirement and low perceived ability to continue working predicted higher satisfaction with early retirement, both directly and indirectly, through early retirement intentions. Finally, satisfaction with early retirement was related to psychological well-being. However, when the sample was divided into subgroups of voluntary and involuntary early retirees, two different relationships were observed in each group. For instance, organizational pressures positively predicted satisfaction with early retirement in involuntary early retirees, whereas this relationship was negative in voluntary early retirees. In addition, income was positively related to retirement age in involuntary early retirees and negatively in voluntarily early retired.