Understanding the Aging Workforce Defining a Research Agenda (2022) / Chapter Skim
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Pages 68-89
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From page 68... ...
Constraints Constraints for Work and Retirement Pathways In addition to preferences and expectations, constraints also shape workforce exit pathways for older workers. Economic and health resources and shocks, such as changes in Social Security or Medicare policy, chronic strains, such as burnout and precarity, and family caregiving responsibilities and the circumstances of spousal work and income all influence both preferences for and the actual timing of exits (Fast et al., 2020; Keating et al., 2019; Stoilko and Strough, 2019; Kalleberg, 2018; Gustafson, 2017; Beehr and Feldman 2011; Raymo and Sweeney, 2006; Moen et al., 2006; Dentinger and Clarkberg, 2002)
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Looking specifically at older adults in their 50s and 60s (Flood et al., 2021) shows that those in historically disadvantaged locations, in terms of race and education as well as gender, were more apt to become unemployed or leave the labor force; there was no large upturn in retirement through December 2020.
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face tremendous challenges in the labor market -- including age discrimination and outdated job search, technology and workplace skills -- contributing to significantly higher rates of long-term unemployment for workers (55+) compared to prime age (16–54)
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Minority women close to retirement face barriers to employment because of their poor health and economic capital, which reduces their chance to exit the labor force voluntarily (Lahey, 2018)
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also find that individuals who had limited opportunities (in low-skill occupations or in work for small firms) in their prime working years also faced large disadvantages close to retirement age, which led to involuntary labor force withdrawal.
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Summary In summary, the demography of and processes leading to later adult work and retirement pathways paint a picture of enduring inequalities by historically disadvantaged subgroups who are less apt to have either resources or opportunities to work longer. The evidence to date points to the need for an intersectional approach (Lahey and Oxley 2021; Collins and Bilge 2020; Romero, 2018)
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Past studies on the work and retirement pathways of earlier populations of older workers who faced very different organizational and economic environments may not apply to the experiences of contemporary older workers. Moreover, the timing of external events in the later life course matter.
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There are also wide disparities and heterogeneities in work and retirement pathways for older adults. In this chapter, we offered a conceptual framework to depict and understand these work and retirement pathways, highlighting the flexibility and constraints that older adults experience in their workforce participation in their later life stage.
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Part II
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. Doing so points to divergent labor force participation and retirement pathways among 79
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Since financial security plays an important role in shaping preferences and expectations for work and constraints on work opportunities at older ages, the next sections focus on contributors to financial security at older ages: financial literacy, employer pensions, Social Security, wealth and income, and debt. The discussion then turns to family and household characteristics, including the roles of caregiving, joint retirement, and family structure.
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. These racial-ethnic, gender, and education-based disparities in overall health are manifest in disparities in labor force participation at older ages.
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. The differences in labor force participation at older ages by education are striking.
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. An important caveat, however, is that the level of education was also increasing during the earlier period when labor force participation rates were declining.
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. Defined contribution plans are increasingly common for both public and private sector workers, though many public sector workers still have defined benefit plans.
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Butrica and Johnson (2010) found that 59 percent of Hispanic people, 43 percent of Black people, and 26 percent of non-Hispanic White people did not take financial risks.
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. Black, Hispanic, and women workers close to retirement age have had higher odds of experiencing involuntary job separation and subsequent withdrawal from the labor force and are more likely to have discontinuous work histories, as well as to be in poor health, leading to involuntary job loss in the years prior to retirement (Flippen, 2005; Flippen and Tienda, 2000)
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. These differences cumulate over the life course and contribute to considerable differences in wealth across race and ethnic groups.
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a disincentive for retirement savings or wealth accumulation: the main safety net programs make ineligible individuals with assets above a given threshold, reducing incentives for low-income earners to save or accumulate above that level (Yoong et al., 2019)
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. The relatively small literature on debt and labor force participation generally uses race and ethnicity as a covariate rather than a predictor of interest.
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