Abstract
We investigate the role of working conditions on the desire to retire as soon as possible and on the probability of transition from employment to either full or partial retirement, using different measures of work quality. We find that low work quality strongly correlates with the desire to retire as soon as possible of “young-old” workers. This might be explained by the deterioration of employer-employee match with age due to reduced incentives for firms to invest in training and work practises that enhance workability of their senior workers. When we move from intentions to decisions, the role of work quality is less clear-cut and it mainly plays a role in the transitions from employment to full retirement.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Angelini V, Brugiavini A, Weber G (2009) Ageing and unused capacity in Europe: is there an early retirement trap? Econ Pol 24:463–508
Blekesaune M, Solem PE (2005) Working conditions and early retirement: a prospective study of retirement behavior. Res Aging 27:3–30
Bound J (1991) Self-reported versus objective measures of health in retirement models. J Hum Resour 26:106–138
Brunello G, Langella M (2013) Bridge jobs in Europe. IZA J Lab Pol 2:11
Cahill KE, Giandrea MD, Quinn JF (2006) Down shifting: the role of bridge jobs after career employment. The center on aging and work. Workplace flexibility at Boston College. Issue Brief 06
Celidoni M, Dal Bianco C, Weber G (2013) Early retirement and cognitive decline. A longitudinal analysis using SHARE data. Marco Fanno Working Papers No. 174
Cottini E, Kato T, Westergaard-Nielsen N (2011) Adverse workplace conditions, high-involvement work practices and labour turnover: evidence from Danish linked employer-employee data. Labour Econ 18:872–880
Disney R, Emerson C, Wakefield M (2006) Ill health and retirement in Britain: a panel data-based analysis. J Health Econ 25:621–649
Drentea P (2002) Retirement and mental health. J Aging Health 14:167–194
Dwyer D, Mitchell OS (1999) Health problems as determinants of retirement: are self-reported measures endogeneous? J Health Econ 18:173–193
Ebbinghaus B (2006) Reforming early retirement in Europe. Oxford University Press, Oxford
Gruber J, Wise D (1999) Social security programs and retirement around the world. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Gruber J, Wise D (2001) Social security programs and retirement around the world. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Gruber J, Wise D (2004) Social security programs and retirement around the world. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Gruber J, Wise D (2005) Social security programs and retirement around the world. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Hairault JO, Langot F, Sopraseuth T (2010) Distance to retirement and older workers’ employment: the case for delaying the retirement age. J Eur Econ Assoc 8(5):1034–1076
Henkens K, Tazelaar F (1994) Early retirement of civil-servants in the Netherlands. J Appl Soc Psychol 24:1927–1943
Holgado-Tello FC, Chacón-Moscoso S, Barbero-García I, Vila-Abad E (2010) Polychoric versus Pearson correlations in exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of ordinal variables. Qual Quant 44:153–166
Karasek R, Brisson C, Kawakami N et al (1998) The job content questionnaire (JCQ): an instrument for internationally comparative assessments of psychosocial job characteristics. J Occup Health Psychol 3:322–355
Krause N, Lynch J, Kaplan GA et al (1997) Predictors of disability retirement. Scan J Work Environ Health 23:403–413
Lundsmaine R, Mitchell O (1999) New Development in the Economic Analysis of Retirement. In: Ashenferlter O, Card D (eds) Handbook of labour economics, vol 3. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 3261–3307
OECD (2011) Pension at glance 2011: retirement-income systems in OECD and G20 countries. OECD Publishing, Paris
Rohwedder S, Willis RJ (2010) Mental retirement. J Eur Econ Assoc 8(5):1034–1076
Ruhm CJ (1990) Bridge jobs and partial retirement. J Labor Econ 8(4):482–501
Siegrist J (1996) Adverse health effects of high-effort/low-reward conditions. J Occup Health Psychol 1:27–41
Siegrist J, Wahrendorf M, von dem Knesebeck O, Jürges H, Börsch-Supan A (2006) Quality of work, well-being, and intended early retirement of older employees: baseline results from the share study. Eur J Pub Health 17:62–68
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Editors and two anonymous referees for helpful comments and suggestions. This paper uses data from SHARE wave 4 release 1.1.1, as of March 28th 2013 or SHARE wave 1 and 2 release 2.6.0, as of November 29th 2013 or SHARELIFE release 1, as of November 24th 2010. The SHARE data collection has been primarily funded by the European Commission through the 5th Framework Programme (project QLK6-CT-2001-00360 in the thematic programme Quality of Life), through the 6th Framework Programme (Projects SHARE-I3, RII-CT-2006-062193, COMPARE, CIT5- CT-2005-028857, and SHARELIFE, CIT4-CT-2006-028812) and through the 7th Framework Programme (SHARE-PREP, N° 211909, SHARE-LEAP, N° 227822 and SHARE M4, N° 261982). Additional funding from the US. National Institute on Aging (U01 AG09740-13S2, P01 AG005842, P01 AG08291, P30 AG12815, R21 AG025169, Y1-AG-4553-01, IAG BSR06-11 and OGHA 04-064) and the German Ministry of Education and Research as well as from various national sources is gratefully acknowledged (see www.share-project.org for a full list of funding institutions).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Responsible Editors: M. Myck (guest editor) and H. Litwin
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dal Bianco, C., Trevisan, E. & Weber, G. “I want to break free”. The role of working conditions on retirement expectations and decisions. Eur J Ageing 12, 17–28 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-014-0326-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10433-014-0326-8