Older workers and working time

Abstract

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. www.econstor.eu Contrary to much of the established literature, this paper finds that though many older workers would prefer to reduce their working hours (the overemployed), there is a significant group who would like to work longer hours (the underemployed). And contrary to the assumption that the self-employed are more easily able than employees to select a desired combination of hours and the wage rate, this paper finds that older self-employed workers are more likely to wish to adjust their hours, both upward and downward than are employees. Terms of use: Documents in D I S C U S S I O N P A P E R S E R I E SA new index of underemployment is used to show that for the UK, since the onset of the Great Recession, underemployment among older workers has been growing more rapidly than unemployment. Using longitudinal data from the UK Labour Force Survey, the paper investigates the effects of overemployment and underemployment on transitions from employment and self-employment into other labour market states. It confirms that overemployment is a significant predictor of retirement among employees while underemployed employees are less likely to retire.JEL Classification: J01, J11, J21, J22, J23, J38, J64

Employment, late-life work, retirement, and well-being in Europe and the United States

“…the self-employed older workers are much more likely to want to adjust their work hours and wages than the employed (Bell and Rutherford 2013). Our data allow us to complement this analysis by providing well-being comparisons between voluntary and involuntary part-time workers.…”

“…The extant studies have assumed that because they prefer shorter working hours, older workers may retire earlier than planned if their employer does allow with such flexibility. Using longitudinal data from the UK, Bell and Rutherford (2013) show that while the overemployed older workers prefer to reduce their working hours, there is a substantial number of underemployed old works who would like to work longer hours. In addition, Notes: Summary of results from caliper propensity score matching.…”

Achieving fuller working lives: labour market and policy issues in the United Kingdom

“…The proportions of employees aged 65-69 working part-time fell between 2001 and 2014, but only from 73 per cent to 66 per cent (Lain & Loretto, forthcoming). At the same time, the evidence suggests that since the economic downturn of 2008 there has been an increase in 'under-employment' among older people aged 50+, whereby they work shorter than desired hours (Bell & Rutherford 2013). All this suggests that the older working population is diverse in age, work history, work experience and work aspirations, and that the simple assertion that flexible work patterns are a good thing for older workers is open to question.…”

The Impact of Ageing and the Speed of Ageing on the Economic Growth of Least Developed, Emerging and Developed Countries, 1990–2013

“…Numerous studies indicate that the ageing population is expected to influence the economic growth of countries through consumption and saving patterns (Mérette and Georges, ; Hock and Weil, ), public expenditures (Díaz‐Giménez and Díaz‐Saavedra, ; Park‐Lee et al., ) and human capital (Bell and Rutherford, ).…”