Transitions between Employment and Unemployment among Older Workers in the Czech Republic

Abstract

There is a sharp discrepancy between the emphasis being placed on active ageing and labour market participation in older age and the high unemployment rates observed among older workers. Cross-sectional data in the Czech Republic consistently present evidence of job insecurity and employment vulnerability in older age groups. Aggregated data and statistical indices do not, however, offer a suffi ciently detailed picture of the social processes (e.g. exit from the labour market, duration of unemployment, and exit from unemployment) behind the numbers. This article takes a dynamic look at the position of older workers in the labour market by investigating transitions between employment and unemployment using a sub-sample of older workers (50 year and over) from the Czech EU-SILC, who were interviewed repeatedly in a panel survey between 2004 and 2009. The authors use survival analysis methods to study the time-dependence of transitions into and out of unemployment and both with and without covariates. The results suggest that older workers are not at a higher risk of exiting the labour market (compared to other age groups), but once they are unemployed, their odds of getting back into employment are signifi cantly lower. Even when controls (such as education level) are included in the model this disadvantage persists. Interestingly, while education generally protects people from labour market exit, this protective effect is weaker among older workers.

Social attitudes towards professional work of the 55+ generation. Comparative analysis of Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary

“…The unemployment rate and the possibility of getting a job have a significant impact on the activity of this category. In principle, it can be concluded that the economic activity of the 55+ generation is influenced by objective factors, in particular the state policy in the field of obtaining retirement rights and employment opportunities (Walker and Maltby, 2012;Boudiny, 2013;Foster and Walker, 2015;Zelezna and Kreidl, 2016) .…”

“…Professional activation influences the use of older workers' potential, their knowledge and skills. Knowledge of older employees can be passed on to the younger generation in specific areas of work, enrich their social capital, accumulate experience in the functioning of the firm (Zelezna & Kreidl, 2016;Kartuzova, 2020;Roman-Gravan et al, 2021).…”

“…Long-term demographic trends, combined with the increasing complexity of social life, translate into an increase in the demand for work of older people. The current trends in the professional activity of Poles, Czechs and Hungarians in the pre-old age indicate that they are not overly willing to prolong their professional activity (Szukalski, 2008;Zelezna & Kreidl, 2016;Gal, 2018;Lamura & Principi, 2019;Siemieńska, 2021). Hence, it is very important to learn about the factors that attract people towards, as well as discourage them from, continuing their professional activity.…”

Employment Potential Index of Older People in the European Union

“…Supporting the growth of the employment of older people is a preferred trend in countries where the use of employment potential of older people in the labor market is closely linked to the demographic phenomenon of population aging (Jeníček & Foltýn, 2003;Dudel & Myrskylä, 2017;Ćwirlej-Sozańska et al, 2018;Neary et al, 2019;Horváthová & Éhn, 2020;Vaňo, 2020), the problem of the growing economic dependence of older people (Hu & Yang, 2012;Fiala & Langhamrova, 2017;Abeysinghe, 2019;Hyndman et al, 2021) and unemployment among older people (Axelrad et al, 2017;Amber & Domingo, 2017;Axelrad et al, 2018;Zelezna & Kreidl, 2016), especially those just before retirement age (Gomezbellenge & Belgrave, 1984;Wuebbeke, 2011;Murray et al, 2015;Hetschko et al, 2019;Ponomarenko et al, 2019).…”

An Intersectional Approach to Research on Unemployment

“…Také v empirických výzkumech se objevují analýzy, které vzájemně utvářený vliv (znevýhodňujících) faktorů analyzují [např. Železná, Kreidl 2016]. Intersekcionální přístup navazuje na zkoumání kategorií hierarchizujících a kategorií utvářejících mocenské vztahy s důrazem na propojenost a situovanost znevýhodňujících kategorií v sociálním, ekonomickém a politickém kontextu [Collins 1990: 276].…”