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Japan’s silver human resource centers and participant well-being

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Abstract

Japan’s Silver Human Resource Center (SHRC) program provides part-time, paid employment to retirement-aged men and women. We studied 393 new program participants and examined whether part-time work influenced their well-being or “ikigai.” The participants were divided into those who had worked in SHRC-provided jobs in the preceding year, and those who had not. Gender-stratified regression models were fitted to determine whether SHRC employment was associated with increased well-being. For men, actively working at a SHRC job was associated with greater well-being, compared to inactive members. And men with SHRC jobs and previous volunteering experience had the greatest increase in well-being. Women SHRC job holders did not experience increased well-being at the year’s end. The study concludes that there is justification for exploring the usefulness of a similar program for American retirees who desire post-retirement part-time work.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA

    Robert S. Weiss

  2. University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), Baltimore, MD

    Scott A. Bass

  3. Econometrica, Inc., Bethesda, MD

    Harley K. Heimovitz

  4. Yokohama City University, Yokohama, JAPAN

    Masato Oka

  5. Econometrica, Inc., 4415 East-West Highway, Suite 215, Bethesda, MD, 20814

    Harley K. Heimovitz

Authors
  1. Robert S. Weiss
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  2. Scott A. Bass
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  3. Harley K. Heimovitz
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  4. Masato Oka
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Correspondence to Harley K. Heimovitz.

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Weiss, R.S., Bass, S.A., Heimovitz, H.K. et al. Japan’s silver human resource centers and participant well-being. J Cross Cult Gerontol 20, 47–66 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-005-3797-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10823-005-3797-4

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