Work Aging and Retirement

Sensory Loss and its Association with Different Types of Departures from the Labor Force Among Older Adults in the US
Garcia Morales EE, Powel DS, Gray A, Assi L and Reed NS
To investigate the association between sensory loss and the timing and type of self-reported departures from the labor force, via retirement or disability, we used data from the Health and Retirement Study, cycles 2004-2018. Based on self-reported sensory loss, we classified individuals into four groups: no sensory loss, hearing loss only, vision loss only, and dual sensory loss (vision and hearing loss). We assumed that older adults could leave the labor force either by retirement or due to disability. Because once one type of exit is observed the other type cannot be observed, we implemented a competing risk approach to estimate the instantaneous rate of departure (sub-distribution hazard rate) for leaving the labor force due to disability, treating retirement as a competing risk, and for departures via retirement, with disability as the competing risk. We found that compared to older adults with no sensory loss, adults with vision loss are at a higher risk for leaving the labor force via disability (when treating retirement as a competing risk). Compared to no sensory loss, hearing loss was associated with a higher risk for retirement in models treating disability as a competing risk. Given the differences between disability and retirement benefits (before and after retirement age), policies intended to keep people with sensory loss from early labor force departures, such as accommodations in the workplace and/or hearing and vision care coverage, might contribute to better retiring conditions and healthy aging among older adults with sensory loss.
Older Adults' and Family Caregivers' Technological Arrangements on Risk of Institutionalization
Kim YK, Ang S and Fingerman KL
Internet-enabled resources could facilitate older adults' ability to live in the community longer, but studies have often overlooked how family caregivers utilize the internet to assist older care recipients. We examined whether different family-level arrangements of internet use may affect the risk of institutionalization among older adults. Using the National Health and Aging Trends Study (2015-2020) and National Study on Caregiving (2015), we estimated multinominal logistic regression and inverse-probability weighted Cox proportional hazard models to investigate the determinants of technological arrangements in 2015 (i.e., no internet use, only caregiver use, only care recipient use, both caregiver and care recipient internet use) and how they may affect the risk of moving to an assisted living or nursing facility between 2015 and 2020. The most prevalent technological arrangement in 2015 was the one where neither the care recipient nor their caregiver reported using the internet. Relatively disadvantaged older care recipients (e.g., people of color, fewer years of education, less income, worse cognitive functioning) and caregivers (e.g., older, fewer years of education) were more likely to be in a non-internet use arrangement. Compared to older adults in other categories, older adults who were internet users and had a family caregiver who also used the internet in their caregiving tasks had a much lower risk of relocation during the study period. Findings suggest that digital interventions aimed at serving the older adult population should assess the gap in access and utilization at a family level and consider the role of older adults' social partners.
Internet-Enabled Behaviors in Older Adults During the Pandemic: Patterns of Use, Psychosocial Impacts, and Plans for Continued Utilization
Benge JF, Aguirre A, Scullin MK, Kiselica AM, Hilsabeck RC, Paydarfar D and Douglas M
In response to social distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a need to increase the frequency of internet enabled behaviors (IEBs). To date, little is known about how the pandemic impacted IEBs in older adults, a population that has historically been linked to lower digital literacy and utilization. We administered an online survey between April and July 2021 to 298 adults who were over age 50 (mean age = 73 years; 93.5% non-Hispanic white; 94% smart phone owners; 83.5% retired). Older adults self-reported IEBs for social, shopping, medical, and leisure activities during the pandemic, plans for continued use of these behaviors, and completed measures of psychosocial functioning. 66.8% of respondents reported an overall increase in IEBs during the pandemic, most notably for online meeting attendance. More frequent online meeting use was associated with less depression ( = -0.12,  = .04) and less loneliness (0.14,  = .02). With regard to plans for continued use, 82.5% of the sample reported at least one IEB ( = 2.18,  = 1.65) that they increased during the pandemic and planned to maintain over time (e.g., online shopping for household goods). Plans for continued use were more likely in participants who used IEBs more overall during the pandemic ( = 0.56,  < .001), and who frequently sought technical support on search engines ( = 0.22,  < .001), or online video sites ( = 0.16,  = .006). In summary, IEBs during the pandemic were associated with favorable psychosocial functioning and expectations for continued use in this sample of predominantly white older adults who had some baseline technological familiarity.
Electronic Wearable Device Use for Physical Activity in Older Adults: A Qualitative Study
Li M, McPhillips MV, Szanton SL, Wenzel J and Li J
Innovative solutions to help older adults increase physical activity are critically important. In this qualitative study, we explored older adults' acceptance, capability, and experiences of using three different types of electronic wearable devices over a period of 4-24 weeks for self-monitoring and promoting physical activity. We conducted 23 semistructured interviews with older adults who participated in three physical activity intervention studies. Two researchers analyzed the data using NVivo version 12, applying a directed content analysis that was partially guided by the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology 2 (UTAUT2). Six themes emerged: (1) device learning, (2) hedonic motivation, (3) habit and adherence, (4) facilitating conditions, (5) effort expectancy, and (6) performance expectancy. Although most older adults (95.8%) from this study were first-time users, they reflected positive experiences and generally enjoyed using electronic wearable devices. Participants reported issues related to electronic wearable device functionalities that can be improved to better enhance user experience and motivate increased physical activity. Future research should explore the role of electronic wearable devices in older adults' physical activity with an emphasis on behavioral change over time.
Empowering the Care of Older Adults Through the Use of Technology
Xu H, Xie B and Chang CH
In recent years, the COVID-19 pandemic and other global crises have significantly affected the lives of older adults, impacting their healthcare, social connections, and daily routines. While the increasing digitization and automation of services offer benefits such as remote healthcare access and reduced isolation, these technologies also pose challenges in terms of unfamiliarity, learning curves, and privacy and security concerns. Addressing these issues requires a collaborative approach across various fields, including health informatics, gerontology, social psychology, human-computer interaction, and cybersecurity and privacy. Understanding the cognitive, emotional, and sociocultural factors influencing older adults' use of technologies is crucial for creating inclusive and accessible digital tools. This multidisciplinary effort, as highlighted in the special issue of Work, Aging and Retirement, aims to enhance our understanding of aging and technology in today's world, empowering older adults to remain connected and maintain their well-being.
Age and Time Horizons Are Associated With Preferences for Helping Colleagues
Shavit YZ, Chi K and Carstensen LL
The present study examined the causal role of time horizons in age differences in worker motivation. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), we hypothesized that under unspecified time horizons, older workers prefer to engage in emotionally meaningful work activities more so than younger workers. We further hypothesized that when time horizons at work are expanded or limited, age differences are eliminated. We recruited a sample of employees ( = 555) and randomly assigned them to one of three experimental conditions: a no-instruction condition in which time horizons were not specified, an expanded time horizons condition, or a limited horizons condition. We asked participants to choose from among three options for work-related activities: Helping a colleague or a friend, working on a career-advancing project, or working on a project which may take the company in a new direction. Consistent with SST postulates, we found that age was associated with preferences for helping colleagues in the unspecified horizons condition, and that age differences were eliminated when time horizons were extended or limited. As hypothesized, expanding time horizons reduced employees' likelihood of choosing to help colleagues. Contrary to our hypothesis, limiting time horizons also reduced the likelihood of choosing to help colleagues. Alternative explanations are considered. Findings suggest that age differences in worker motivation are shaped by time horizons and that modification of time horizons can alter work preferences.
Physical Work Exposures of Older Workers: Does Measurement Make a Difference?
Andrasfay T, Pebley AR and Goldman N
Physically demanding work at later ages, which is especially prevalent among disadvantaged groups, is associated with long-term health outcomes and may contribute to health inequality over the life course. Past studies of these issues have relied on occupational characteristics from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET), but few have assessed how O*NET compares to survey reports when measuring occupational exposures in analyses of socioeconomic status, work conditions, and health. We compare Health and Retirement Study (HRS,  = 16,683 working respondents) and O*NET measurements of general physical activity, frequency of lifting/handling objects, and frequency of stooping-related postures required at work. Pearson correlations between the HRS items and corresponding O*NET items vary from weak to moderate for lifting/handling and stooping-related postures to relatively large for general physical activity. Though they are measured on different scales, both the HRS and O*NET measures of physical demands reveal similar sex, racial/ethnic, and educational differentials in exposure to physically strenuous work. We fit random effects Poisson models to assess how these measures predict accumulation of functional limitations, a potential long-term consequence of strenuous working conditions. Comparable HRS and O*NET measures have similar associations with functional limitations. We also consider an average of physical demand items available in O*NET, finding that this measure has similar associations with functional limitations as the O*NET measure of general physical activity. These results suggest that O*NET characteristics and HRS respondent reports produce comparable disparities in physical work exposures (PWEs) and associations between physically demanding work and declines in physical functioning.
Married Mothers' Bargaining Power and Their Accrual of Pension Entitlements: Evidence From East and West Germany
Weiland A
This study investigates how married mothers' relative bargaining power before the birth of their first child affects their subsequent accumulation of pension entitlements in East versus West Germany. I use a novel data linkage between the German sample of the "Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe" and administrative records from the German pension insurance (SHARE-RV) to analyze monthly life-course data on married mothers from East ( = 226) and West Germany ( = 586) who were born between 1925 and 1967. Applying random effects growth curve models and mediation analyses, I find that women's relative bargaining power before parenthood is linked to their subsequent accumulation of pension entitlements in West (but not East) Germany. The results support the notion that bargaining power early in couples' linked lives has long-term consequences for women's pension income. Moreover, the results indicate that negotiations within the couple are constricted by the extent to which the institutional context supports or hinders the reconciliation of women's work-family conflict.
Broadening the View of Workplace Ageism
Petery GA and Grosch JW
Beyond Hours Worked and Dollars Earned: Multidimensional EQ, Retirement Trajectories and Health in Later Life
Andrea SB, Eisenberg-Guyot J, Oddo VM, Peckham T, Jacoby D and Hajat A
The working lives of Americans have become less stable over the past several decades and older adults may be particularly vulnerable to these changes in employment quality (EQ). We aimed to develop a multidimensional indicator of EQ among older adults and identify EQ and retirement trajectories in the United States. Using longitudinal data on employment stability, material rewards, workers' rights, working-time arrangements, unionization, and interpersonal power relations from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we used principal component analysis to construct an EQ score. Then, we used sequence analysis to identify late-career EQ trajectories (age 50-70 years; = 11,958 respondents), overall and by sociodemographics (race, gender, educational attainment, marital status). We subsequently examined the sociodemographic, employment, and health profiles of these trajectories. We identified 10 EQ trajectories; the most prevalent trajectories were Minimally Attached and Wealthy (13.9%) and Good EQ to Well-off Retirement (13.7%), however, 42% of respondents were classified into suboptimal trajectories. Those in suboptimal trajectories were disproportionately women, people of color, and less-educated. Individuals in the Poor EQ to Delayed and Poor Retirement and Unattached and Poor clusters self-reported the greatest prevalence of poor health and depression, while individuals in the Wealthy Business Owners and Great EQ to Well-off Retirement clusters self-reported the lowest prevalence of poor health and depression at baseline. Trajectories were substantially constrained for women of color. Although our study demonstrates EQ is inequitably distributed in later life, labor organizing and policy change may afford opportunities to improve EQ and retirement among marginalized populations.
Disparate Disruptions: Intersectional COVID-19 Employment Effects by Age, Gender, Education, and Race/Ethnicity
Moen P, Pedtke JH and Flood S
These are unprecedented times, as the COVID-19 pandemic disrupts public health, social interaction, and employment attachments. Evidence to date has been about broad shifts in unemployment rates as a percent of the labor force. We draw on monthly Current Population Survey data to examine subpopulation changes in employment states across the life course, from January through April 2020. COVID-19 downturns produced disparate life-course impacts. There are increases in unemployment and being out of the workforce at all ages, but especially among young adults, with young women most at risk. Intersectional analyses document conjoint life-course vulnerabilities by gender, educational attainment, and race/ethnicity. For example, Black men aged 20-29 with a college degree experienced a 12.4 percentage point increase in being not in the labor force for other reasons (NILF-other). Individuals with less than a college degree in their 50s and 60s were more likely to become unemployed, regardless of race. And more non-college-educated Asian men in their 60s and 70s reported being retired (6.6 and 8.9 percentage point increases, respectively). Repercussions from the pandemic may well challenge assumptions and possibilities for older adults' working longer.
Pandemic Ponderings on the Limited Lens of Our Age Stereotyping Research: Considering Privilege and Racism
Finkelstein LM
In this commentary, I observe the assumption of privilege of many of the age stereotypes that emerged to characterize both older and younger age groups at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. This leads to a reflection of how much extant age stereotype research may be limited by the typical centering of a white and a middle- or upper-class perspective. I make acknowledgment of strides toward intersectional research and suggest some further research questions to move this work forward.
The Psychological Consequences of the COVID-19 on Residents and Staff in Nursing Homes
Mo S and Shi J
In this commentary, we overview the existing research on psychological consequences caused by COVID-19 for both residents and staff in the nursing homes. We identify loneliness and emotional anxiety as main psychological consequences for nursing home residents, whereas uncertainty, hopelessness, work overload, and role conflicts are the most salient psychological challenges for the staff in the nursing homes during the pandemic. We then summarize the existing strategies and interventions responsive to the above challenges. We suggest that this overview may help nursing home managers understand what are the key psychological challenges and how to deal with them during a crisis period. Finally, we also encourage future research to pay more attention to exploring interventions specifically designed for vulnerable older people, understanding the role of the nursing home leader team in managing emotional and ethical challenges in organizations, and developing community-wide collaboration with multiple external stakeholders.
Uncertainty in Aging and Lifespan Research: Covid-19 as Catalyst for Addressing the Elephant in the Room
Grote G and Pfrombeck J
Uncertainty is at the center of debates on how to best cope with the Covid-19 pandemic. In our exploration of the role of uncertainty in current aging and lifespan research, we build on an uncertainty regulation framework that includes both reduction and creation of uncertainty as viable self-regulatory processes. In particular, we propose that future time perspective, a key component in models of successful aging, should be reconceptualized in terms of uncertainty regulation. We argue that by proactively regulating the amount of uncertainty one is exposed to, individuals' future time perspective can be altered. We show how extant research might be (re)interpreted based on these considerations and suggest directions for future research, challenging a number of implicit assumptions about how age and uncertainty are interlinked. We close with some practical implications for individuals and organizations for managing the Covid-19 crisis.
COVID-19 and its Implications for Research on Work Ability
Truxillo DM, Cadiz DM and Brady GM
Research into work ability is increasing in the aging workforce literature. We argue that the COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered a number of possible gaps in our understanding of the work ability concept itself, its antecedents, and outcomes. We offer future research directions to further examine the theoretical underpinnings of work ability, moderators that may enhance its effects, and ways to broaden work ability conceptually to better capture the experiences of older workers.
The Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Older Workers: The Role of Self-Regulation and Organizations
Kooij DTAM
We live in an unusual time, which effects all of us in different ways. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, some people are working harder than ever, some people have lost their job, some people can only work from home, and some people have to reinvent how they work (Kniffin et al., 2020). Older 50+ workers might even be more affected by the pandemic compared to younger workers because they are labeled as vulnerable and as being at risk in terms of Covid-19 (Ayalon et al., 2020). However, emerging studies on the impact of Covid-19 suggest that older workers respond more effectively to measures that counter Covid-19 (Losada-Balter et al., 2020). This is in line with the lifespan developmental perspective, which theorizes and demonstrates that older adults generally are very capable of adapting and very effective in dealing with the aging process (Baltes and Baltes, 1990; Freund, 2008). Multiple studies show that older adults engage in various self-regulation strategies aimed at continuously maintaining or restoring person-environment fit (e.g., Kooij et al., 2020; Taneva and Arnold, 2018; Zacher, Kooij, & Beier, 2018a) thus helping them to age successfully at work. In this commentary, I will take a more positive perspective on older workers and discuss the self-regulation strategies that older workers engage in and how organizations can stimulate this. I will end my commentary with some suggestions for future research.
For Whom the Pandemic Tolls: A Person-Centric Analysis of Older Workers
Kanfer R, Lyndgaard SF and Tatel CE
We offer a worker-centric perspective on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for the aging workforce. We briefly describe 3 broad characteristics of pandemics-mortality salience, isolation from the workplace, and rising unemployment-in terms of their associated pathways of influence on older workers, and recommendations for future research.
Disrespect at Work, Distress at Home: A Longitudinal Investigation of Incivility Spillover and Crossover Among Older Workers
Marchiondo LA, Fisher GG, Cortina LM and Matthews RA
The prevalence of workplace mistreatment toward older adults is well-documented, yet its effects are understudied. We applied the strength and vulnerability integration model (SAVI) to hypothesize that, despite its low intensity, workplace incivility has numerous deleterious outcomes for older employees over time. Specifically, we investigated whether and how incivility relates to well-being outside of work, among both targeted employees and their partners. We drew on affective events theory to examine how incivility "spills over" to older targets' personal lives. We also tested whether incivility is potent enough to "crossover" to the well-being of older targets' partners at home. Based on longitudinal data from a national study of older workers ( = 598; 299 couples), results demonstrate that workplace incivility related to decrements in targets' affective well-being, which in turn, was associated with life dissatisfaction, interference with work, and lower overall health. Workplace incivility also predicted declines in partner well-being, although these crossover effects varied by gender: Men's postincivility affective well-being predicted their female partners' life satisfaction but not vice versa. However, women's uncivil experiences directly related to the affective well-being of their male partners. These results suggest that for both older workers and their partners, the harms of incivility eventually extend beyond the organizations where they originate.
The COVID-19 Pandemic: Lessons for Financially Fragile and Aging Societies
van Dalen HP and Henkens K
The current COVID-19 crisis teaches organizations and households harsh lessons about the necessity of having buffers, to deal with the consequences of the COVID-19 virus. The financial fragility of households and the rising proportion of people becoming obese calls for intensified efforts, both by individuals and employers to create financial buffers and keep on investing in health. The financial fragility of organizations is a wake-up call that a short-term focus on efficiency can be counterproductive and may overturn the efforts to start working longer.
Corrigendum to "Occupational Differences in BMI, BMI Trajectories, and Implications for Employment Status among Older U.S. Workers"Sarah A. Burgard and Amanda Sonnega
Burgard SA and Sonnega A
[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/workar/waw038.][This corrects the article DOI: 10.1093/workar/waw038.].
"The COVID-19 Generation": A Cautionary Note
Rudolph CW and Zacher H
With COVID-19 presenting as a global pandemic, we have noticed an emerging rhetoric concerning "the COVID-19 Generation," both anecdotally and across various media outlets. The narratives advanced to support such rhetoric have distinct implications for the study of work, aging, and retirement. In this commentary, we review this emerging issue and present evidence against attempts to define "the COVID-19 Generation" as a new construct along conceptual, methodological, as well as practical lines, with a specific focus on identifying real dangers associated with investigating and potentially managing a new generation associated with this pandemic. We strongly caution against the adoption of "the COVID-19 Generation" as a concept of study and instead offer several suggestions to researchers, organizations, and practitioners seeking answers to complicated questions about links between COVID-19 and various processes relevant to work, aging, and retirement during this time of uncertainty.
Boundaries of the Construct of Unemployment in the Preretirement Years: Exploring an Expanded Measurement of Lost-Work Opportunity
Voss MW, Al Snih S, Li W, Hung M and Richards LG
There is uncertainty related to whether retirement negatively affects health-possibly due to complexity around retirement decisions. Lost-work opportunity through unemployment or forced retirement has been shown to negatively affect health. Lost-work opportunity can be captured in two measurement fields, either a reported experience of being forced into retirement or reported unemployment. However, 17% of individuals retiring due to the loss of work opportunity identified in qualitative interviewing (i.e., unemployment, temporary lay-offs, company buy-outs, forced relocations, etc.) do not report this unemployment or involuntary retirement in quantitative survey responses. We propose broadening the conceptualization of late-career unemployment to incorporate other lost work opportunity scenarios. Using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a lost-work opportunity score (LOS) was computed from items indicating unemployment and forced or unplanned retirement. Correlations were computed between this LOS and all continuous variables in the RAND longitudinal compilation of the HRS to determine its convergent and discriminant validity. The LOS demonstrated a Chronbach's alpha of α = .82 and had convergent validity with constructs of employment (9 variables), finances (36 variables), and health (14 variables), as predicted by the literature on retirement timing. No other continuous variables in the HRS were identified with a moderate or strong correlation to LOS, demonstrating discriminant validity. Further research should explore whether a combination of variables in the HRS can improve the accuracy of measuring lost-work opportunity. Improved precision in measurement, through an expanded conceptualization of lost-work opportunity, may help explicate the retirement-related factors that affect health, to inform policy and support healthy aging decisions at a societal level.
A Modest Proposal for Solving the Older Worker Productivity Problem
Charness N
Following the satirist Jonathan Swift (https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1080/1080-h/1080-h.htm), I outline a "modest proposal" for managing the older worker productivity problem. Although meta-analyses by psychologists have consistently shown little or no relationship between age and worker productivity, older workers are clearly less productive from an economic perspective, given their average higher salary and, in the United States, their higher health care premiums. Building on Swift's satire, I propose that to satisfy profit-hungry capitalist firms, older worker contracts should include an automatic salary deflator past age 50. This would improve older worker productivity from an economic perspective by reducing the denominator in their productivity index (output/input costs) and add to the stock of the common good.
Are There Differences in Workplace Accommodation Needs, Use and Unmet Needs Among Older Workers With Arthritis, Diabetes and No Chronic Conditions? Examining the Role of Health and Work Context
Gignac MAM, Kristman V, Smith PM, Beaton DE, Badley EM, Ibrahim S and Mustard CA
The aging of workforces combined with the prevalence of age-related chronic diseases has generated interest in whether large numbers of older workers will need workplace accommodations. This research applied work functioning theory to examine accommodation availability, need and use in workers with arthritis, diabetes, or no chronic disabling diseases; factors associated with accommodation needs; and the relationship of accommodation needs met, unmet or exceeded to job outcomes. Participants were aged 50-67 years, employed, and had arthritis ( = 631), diabetes ( = 286), both arthritis/diabetes ( = 111) or no chronic disabling conditions (healthy controls = 538). They were recruited from a national panel of 80,000 individuals and a cross-sectional survey was administered online or by telephone. Questionnaires assessed demographics, health, work context, workplace accommodations, and job outcomes. Chi-square analyses, analyses of variance, and regression analyses compared groups. Respondents were similar in many demographic and work context factors. As expected, workers with arthritis and/or diabetes often reported poorer health and employment outcomes. Yet, there were few differences across health conditions in need for or use of accommodations with most participants reporting accommodations needs met. In keeping with work functioning theory, unmet accommodation needs were largely related to work context, not health. Workers whose accommodation needs were exceeded reported better job outcomes than those with accommodation needs met. Findings highlight both work context and health in understanding workplace accommodations and suggest that many older workers can meet accommodation needs with existing workplace practices. However, additional research aimed at workplace support and the timing of accommodation use is needed.
Occupational Differences in BMI, BMI Trajectories, and Implications for Employment Status among Older U.S. Workers
Burgard SA and Sonnega A
We examined associations between employment and obesity, arguing that risk for unhealthy weight may vary across occupational groups because they shape workplace exposures, social class standing, material resources, and norms and expectations about healthy behaviors and weight. We used a large sample of 51-61-year-old workers from the Health and Retirement study, tracking their body mass index (BMI) over time while accounting for potentially confounding influences of socioeconomic status and gender and exploring whether gender modified associations between occupational group, BMI, and retirement timing. Compared with women in professional occupations, women managers were less likely to be obese at baseline and were less likely to be in the obese upward trajectory class, while female professionals and operators and laborers were less likely than women in farm and precision production to be in the normal stable trajectory. Male professionals were less likely than men in sales, service, and operator and laborer positions to be obese at baseline and more often followed the normal upward trajectory than most other groups, though they and farm and precision production men were more likely to be in the overweight to obese trajectory than men in service occupations. Adjustment for sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics reduced associations more for men than for women. While retirement risk differed across occupational groups, most of these differences were explained by socioeconomic, demographic, and lifestyle characteristics, especially for men. Obesity at baseline was an independent predictor of retirement but did not further explain differences in the timing of retirement by occupational group.
Overview of the Health and Retirement Study and Introduction to the Special Issue
Fisher GG and Ryan LH
Twenty five years ago, the largest academic behavioral and social science project ever undertaken in the U.S. began: the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The HRS is an invaluable publicly available dataset for investigating work, aging, and retirement and informing public policy on these issues. This biennial longitudinal study began in 1992 and has studied more than 43,000 individuals and produced almost 4000 journal articles, dissertations, books, book chapters, and reports to date. The purpose of this special issue of is to describe the HRS and highlight relevant research that utilizes this rich and complex dataset. First, we briefly describe the background that led to the development of the HRS. Then we summarize key aspects of the study, including its development, sampling, and methodology. Our review of the content of the survey focuses on the aspects of the study most relevant to research on worker aging and retirement. Next, we identify key strengths and important limitations of the study and provide advice to current and future HRS data users. Finally, we summarize the articles in this (all of which use data from the HRS) and how they advance our knowledge and understanding of worker aging and retirement.
Work-Hour Trajectories and Depressive Symptoms among Midlife and Older Married Couples
Wan WH, Antonucci TC, Birditt KS and Smith J
Life course theories highlight the importance of understanding psychological health of aging individuals in context. Work and marriage are influential contexts in later life that are increasingly relevant because both spouses of many households work and individuals are delaying retirement. Although there is extensive literature on predictors of depressive symptoms, incorporating life course histories of work and social contexts has been a critical omission in the aging and health field. This study identifies couples' work trajectories as a function of husband's and wife's weekly work hours and examines the link between couple work-hour trajectory membership and individual depressive symptoms. Data are from 1641 married couples who participated in the 1998-2012 waves (ages 51-89) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). Findings revealed six distinct subgroups of work-hour trajectories among couples and that membership in these subgroups was associated with depressive symptoms. Retiring husbands with wives who continued to work and wives who worked minimally throughout the years (regardless of whether their husbands worked or retired) reported more depressive symptoms than other subgroups. These results suggest that work trajectories themselves, beyond current health status, may carry differential psychological health risk. Moreover, several sociodemographic and life course factors in 1998 were significant predictors of trajectory membership. These findings provide insight into midlife factors that may influence work trajectories (and the potential health risk) through to older adulthood. They suggest that a life course examination of work and social contexts is needed for a greater understanding of individual and couple health development.
A Comparison of Subjective and Objective Job Demands and Fit with Personal Resources as Predictors of Retirement Timing in a National U.S. Sample
Sonnega A, Helppie-McFall B, Hudomiet P, Willis RJ and Fisher GG
Population aging and attendant pressures on public budgets have spurred considerable interest in understanding factors that influence retirement timing. A range of sociodemographic and economic characteristics predict both earlier and later retirement. Less is known about the role of job characteristics on the work choices of older workers. Researchers are increasingly using the subjective ratings of job characteristics available in the Health and Retirement Study in conjunction with more objective measures of job characteristics from the Occupational Information Network (O*NET) database. Employing a theoretically-informed model of job demands-personal resources fit, we constructed mismatch measures between resources and job demands (both subjectively and objectively assessed) in physical, emotional, and cognitive domains. When we matched comparable measures across the two data sources in the domains of physical, emotional, and cognitive job demands, we found that both sources of information held predictive power in relation to retirement timing. Physical and emotional but not cognitive mismatch were associated with earlier retirement. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of these findings and directions for future research.
Job Lock, Work, and Psychological Well-being in the United States
Fisher GG, Ryan LH, Sonnega A and Naudé MN
The purpose of the present study was to examine job lock in relation to well-being among workers in the U.S. Job lock refers to a circumstance in which a worker would like to retire or stop working altogether, but perceives that they cannot due to needing the income, and/or health insurance. Prior to examining job lock as a potential predictor of life satisfaction we first investigated the construct validity of job lock. Results from a sample of N=308 workers obtained via MTurk indicated that job lock due to financial need was more strongly associated with continuance and affective organizational commitment and job satisfaction compared to health insurance job lock. Job lock due to health insurance needs was related to a dimension of career entrenchment. We then tested hypotheses regarding the relation between job lock at T1 and life satisfaction at T2, two years later. Specifically, we hypothesized that perceptions of job lock would be negatively related to life satisfaction. Using two independent samples from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we found that both types of job lock were highly prevalent among workers age 62-65. Job lock due to money was significantly associated with lower life satisfaction 2 years later. The findings for job lock due to health insurance were mixed across the two samples. This study was an important first step toward examining the relation between job lock, an economic concept, in relation to workers' job attitudes and well-being.