Career Trajectories and Older Men's Retirement

Abstract

The idea of a long and stable career rewarded by retirement is a fixture of the American social ethos and political economy. The paradox is that many Americans' careers do not fit this image. Here, we examined how the structure of the career, as compared to only those circumstances proximate to retirement, is important for understanding career endings. Based on labor force histories drawn from the National Longitudinal Survey of Older Men, we observed that the occupational roles held through the mid and late career combine additively to influence retirement and disability experiences, with different conditions of work coming into play depending on the career stage. Occupational roles in the mid career also have long-term, indirect effects, operating through the onset of health problems and the adequacy of pension benefits. Although retirement and disability are not hinged to occupational mobility per se, these career endings are sensitive to major discontinuities in the career and work role in terms of unemployment and labor force mobility.

The Impact of Job Characteristics on Work-to-Family Facilitation: Testing a Theory and Distinguishing a Construct.

“…Because many of the 44 DOT variables overlap, previous researchers attempted to derive meaningful job characteristic dimensions by subjecting the variables to factor analysis. Although there is some variability in results, these analyses frequently yield four distinguishable factors (Hayward, Friedman, & Chen, 1998;Miller et al, 1980;Parcel, 1989). These factors have been labeled (a) substantive complexity, representing the degree to which a job requires handling data and requires high levels of training or preparation; (b) manipulative skills, or the extent to which jobs require working with "things" and require motor coordination, finger dexterity, and eye-hand coordination; (c) physical and environmental demands, or the extent to which a job involves strength and exposure to extreme temperatures or environmental hazards; and (d) social skills, or the extent to which a job requires dealing with people and requires the physical capabilities of talking, hearing, and seeing.…”

“…Instead, scales were created through factor scores calculated using the regression method (Gorsuch, 1983). The factors, which were similar to those obtained from different data sources (Hayward et al, 1998;Miller et al, 1980;Parcel, 1989), along with the characteristics comprising them, are outlined below. Factor 1: Substantive complexity represents the general complexity and intellectual capability required of a job.…”

Understanding Retirement Processes: The Role of Life Histories

“…In studies on life histories and retirement, the financial argument is the most central argument that has been used to theoretically link earlier experiences to later outcomes: Earlier life experiences will affect preretirement financial opportunities and constraints and consequently retirement decisions (e.g., Hank 2004, Hayward et al 1998, Szinovacz and DeViney 2000, Damman et al 2011). …”

“…With respect to work careers these studies have, for instance, investigated the role of diverse career pathways (Han and Moen 1999, Pienta et al 1994, Kovalenko and Mortelmans 2013, exposure to certain types of jobs over the career (Elder and Pavalko 1993, Hayward et al 1998, Raymo et al 2011, and diverse indicators of employment continuity and career mobility (Damman et al 2011, Finch 2014, Raymo et al 2010, Singh and Verma 2003, Henretta et al 1993) for explaining late-career labor market behaviors. Even though insights are still rather fragmented -given that studied earlier life experiences and country contexts differ much between studies -a general sketch of some findings could be provided.…”

“…With respect to labor force participation, research findings have shown that women who have worked continuously throughout the life course are more likely to work during later life (Pienta et al 1994), and to work beyond pension age (Finch 2014), which seems to be in line with the notion of continuity between earlier and later points in time in terms of labor participation. For men, the findings are mixed, with some studies showing that a history of unemployment and labor force exits places male workers at a higher risk of retirement (Hayward et al 1998), and other studies showing that discontinuous employment and involuntary job loss in mid-life result in lower odds of retirement , Raymo et al 2011.…”