IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v18y2021i3d10.1007_s10433-020-00584-5.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Attitudes towards working in retirement: a latent class analysis of older workers’ motives

Author

Listed:
  • Moritz Hess

    (Hochschule Niederrhein University of Applied Sciences)

  • Laura Naegele

    (University of Vechta)

  • Jana Mäcken

    (University of Cologne)

Abstract

One of the fastest growing labour market groups is working pensioners, meaning those who work past the statutory retirement age whilst receiving a pension. Previous research has investigated the motives of this group and found very heterogeneous reasons for employment in retirement. However, little is known about the expectations and preferred work arrangements of older workers regarding a potential post-retirement employment. Using data from the German survey transitions and old age potential, we explore older workers’ motives, preferences and expectations towards working in retirement. Results show that about half of the respondents plan to work in addition to receiving a pension; however, the share is higher amongst men and those with higher levels of education. The motives for staying in post-retirement employment vary as well: using latent class analysis, we find four distinct patterns of motives that can be classified as (1) financially-driven, (2) status-driven, (3) contact and fun-driven, as well as (4) generativity-driven, underlining the complexity of retirement decisions. Furthermore, preferences regarding arrangements when combining work and retirement are very heterogeneous. Whilst highly educated men want to work as self-employed, women and those with lower qualifications want to stay in their old jobs. Only small differences were found regarding preferred hours (about 17) and days per week (2.24). In summary, the results show that the rapidly growing group of working pensioners and their preferences should be seen as characterised by differences by those responsible for creating these post-retirement employment opportunities.

Suggested Citation

  • Moritz Hess & Laura Naegele & Jana Mäcken, 2021. "Attitudes towards working in retirement: a latent class analysis of older workers’ motives," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 18(3), pages 357-368, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:18:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-020-00584-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-020-00584-5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-020-00584-5
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-020-00584-5?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dale Dannefer, 2003. "Cumulative Advantage/Disadvantage and the Life Course: Cross-Fertilizing Age and Social Science Theory," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 58(6), pages 327-337.
    2. Frerich Frerichs & Robert Lindley & Paula Aleksandrowicz & Beate Baldauf & Sheila Galloway, 2012. "Active ageing in organisations: a case study approach," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 33(6), pages 666-684, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Riekhoff, Aart-Jan & Vaalavuo, Maria, 2021. "Health shocks and couples’ labor market participation: A turning point or stuck in the trajectory?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    2. Sun, Nan & Yang, Fan, 2021. "Impacts of internal migration experience on health among middle-aged and older adults—Evidence from China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    3. Song, Jieun & Mailick, Marsha R. & Greenberg, Jan S., 2018. "Health of parents of individuals with developmental disorders or mental health problems: Impacts of stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 217(C), pages 152-158.
    4. Jakub Bijak & Jason D. Hilton & Eric Silverman & Viet Dung Cao, 2013. "Reforging the Wedding Ring," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 29(27), pages 729-766.
    5. Joanne S. Muller & Nicole Hiekel & Aart C. Liefbroer, 2020. "The Long-Term Costs of Family Trajectories: Women’s Later-Life Employment and Earnings Across Europe," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 57(3), pages 1007-1034, June.
    6. Missinne, Sarah & Colman, Elien & Bracke, Piet, 2013. "Spousal influence on mammography screening: A life course perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 63-70.
    7. Brock Boudreau & Christiane Poulin, 2009. "An examination of the validity of the Family Affluence Scale II (FAS II) in a general adolescent population of Canada," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 94(1), pages 29-42, October.
    8. Liliya Leopold, 2019. "Health Measurement and Health Inequality Over the Life Course: A Comparison of Self-rated Health, SF-12, and Grip Strength," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 56(2), pages 763-784, April.
    9. Liying Luo & James Hodges, 2019. "The Age-Period-Cohort-Interaction Model for Describing and Investigating Inter-Cohort Deviations and Intra-Cohort Life-Course Dynamics," Papers 1906.08357, arXiv.org.
    10. Luo, Ye & Zhang, Zhenmei & Gu, Danan, 2015. "Education and mortality among older adults in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 134-142.
    11. Alexander Patzina & Hans Dietrich & Anton Barabasch, 2022. "Health, Personality Disorders, Work Commitment, and Training‐to‐Employment Transitions," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 10(2), pages 369-382.
    12. Liu, Jiankun & He, Xiaobin & Dong, Yinxi, 2024. "Household debt and children’s psychological well-being in China: The mediating role of parent–child relations," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    13. Mary Ellen Stone & Jielu Lin & Dale Dannefer & Jessica A. Kelley-Moore, 2017. "The Continued Eclipse of Heterogeneity in Gerontological Research," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 72(1), pages 162-167.
    14. Visser, Mark & Fasang, Anette Eva, 2018. "Educational assortative mating and couples’ linked late-life employment trajectories," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 37, pages 79-90.
    15. Heather M. Rackin, 2017. "Comparing Veteran and Non-veteran Racial Disparities in Mid-life Health and Well-being," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(3), pages 331-356, June.
    16. Maclean, Johanna Catherine & Hill, Terrence D., 2015. "Leaving school in an economic downturn and self-esteem across early and middle adulthood," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 1-12.
    17. Chang, Ling-Yin & Wu, Chi-Chen & Yen, Lee-Lan & Chang, Hsing-Yi, 2019. "The effects of family dysfunction trajectories during childhood and early adolescence on sleep quality during late adolescence: Resilience as a mediator," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 222(C), pages 162-170.
    18. Bierman, Alex & Upenieks, Laura & Glavin, Paul & Schieman, Scott, 2021. "Accumulation of economic hardship and health during the COVID-19 pandemic: Social causation or selection?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    19. Nan Zhang & Lei Wang & Min Zhang & James Nazroo, 2019. "Air quality and obesity at older ages in China: The role of duration, severity and pollutants," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-16, December.
    20. Sören Edvinsson & Göran Broström, 2012. "Old age, health and social inequality," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 26(23), pages 633-660.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:18:y:2021:i:3:d:10.1007_s10433-020-00584-5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.