Nativity and Older Women's Health: Constructed Reliance in the Health and Retirement Study

ABSTRACT

Gender and nativity are known risk factors for physical and economic dependency. Immigrant women are particularly disadvantaged because of their greater lack of social and economic resources. In this study, we investigate how women immigrants coordinate and utilize various support systems as they approach retirement age, as well as how choices and constraints affect their physical well-being. Experiences throughout the life course play a role in the maintenance of health, but the pre-retirement years are particularly crucial to the establishment of patterns of reliance to be used in later life. We examine the effects of economic resources, social support, and family ties (as well as several exogenous variables) on women's physical health using data from the Health and Retirement Survey. For the women in this study, demographic characteristics, such as Hispanic ethnicity and low education are strong risk factors for poor health. Findings also indicate that reliance patterns across resource domains do not differ significantly by nativity and that both economic and familial resource access significantly lessens the risk of poor health for both native and foreign born women.     

Job demands and job control as correlates of early retirement thoughts in Finnish social and health care employees

Given the ageing workforce, there is an increasing interest in understanding the retirement process. This study examined whether early retirement thoughts can be explained by job demands, job control and their interaction, a hypothesis derived from the job demand-control model of Karasek (). The moderated hierarchical regression analyses of early retirement thoughts were based on a sample of 274 male and 2798 female employees aged 20 to 65 years in Finnish social and health care. Our results suggest that job demands and job control are independent predictors of early retirement thoughts even when adjusted for age, gender, educational level and self-rated health. Furthermore, our results offered support for the interaction effect of job demands and job control on early retirement thoughts. Among people over 45 years old, these associations were even stronger, compared to the whole sample. This indicates that one way to reduce the number of people taking early retirement would be to put the emphasis on psychosocial factors, such as job control, affecting the older workers.     

Recruitment Strategies for Conducting Research on Women's Retirement

ABSTRACT

Currently, little information is available to inform new or returning researchers about designing and conducting research on the topic of women and retirement. Few published studies describe how to access non-probability samples of retired women, yet preliminary evidence suggests women possess distinctive characteristics that affect their retirement as well as complicate the recruitment process. In this article, certain challenges and benefits of conducting research with women in retirement are presented. Next, important issues to consider prior to sampling retired women are described. Finally, specific strategies for identifying and recruiting community-dwelling retired women are presented and discussed.     

The Perceptions and Needs of Farm Dwellers Regarding Aging,Advanced Age,and Future Perspectives

Abstract

This article reports on a multidisciplinary study that was undertaken by the Faculty of Health Sciences of the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education. This study was done on certain farms in the North West Province of South Africa and called the FLAGH study, meaning the Farm Labour, Agriculture and General Health study. This article reports on a need assessment of farm dwellers done during the second half of 2002 and focuses specifically on perceptions and needs regarding aging, advanced age and future perspectives of aged farm dwellers.

The objective of this study was to ascertain the psychosocial needs and problems of farm dwellers in order to eventually design, implement and evaluate a programme aimed at the improvement of the quality of life of farm dwellers. An exploratory study was done, utilising in-depth interviewing according to a schedule of both quantitative and qualitative nature. Certain aspects, like the attitude of the community towards the elderly, relationships of the elderly with peers, children, grandchildren and spouses were dealt with in this study. Topics like the needs or problems of the elderly, nearing death, old age homes and retirement were also covered in this project.     

Mortgage and Lending Instruments Designed for the Elderly

This paper explores the elderly homeowner's need for maintenance/rehabilitation-of-dwelling loans and outlines potential mortgage instruments for which the elderly might qualify in order to obtain modest, modern homes. A delineation of lifestyle, income and psychological factors contributive to the housing-inadequacy of the nondestitute elderly, is presented. This is followed by a discussion of location change stimulated either by housing-dissatisfaction or a desire for family closeness and the resultant financial burden of mortgage payments, taxes, utilities, and assessments. The final section presents mortgage plans available through HUD to address the problems presented and recommendations concerning mortgage plan policy. Key concepts: -Mortgage -Elderly Homeowner -Reverse Annuity Mortgage -Housing-inadequacy -Housing-dissatisfaction -Adult Child Elderly Parent Interaction     

Effects of receipt of Social Security retirement benefits on older women’s employment

Labor force participation of women has declined since 1999; however, labor force participation of women 62+ has increased. The 2000–2006 waves of Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data, the initial years of the continuing upward trajectory, were used to test the effects of receipt of Social Security retirement benefits on older women’s employment. The models tested: (a) the effect of receipt of Social Security retirement benefits on whether employed; and (b) for women receiving Social Security retirement benefits, the effect of age elected receipt of benefits on whether employed. Both models included the effects of human capital characteristics and income sources. Receipt of Social Security benefits, pension income, and current age reduced the likelihood of employment; while educational level, good to excellent health, and nonmarried marital status increased the likelihood of employment. The older the woman was when she elected Social Security benefits, the more likely she was to be employed.     

The Present Retirement Crisis and How Social Workers Can Respond

ABSTRACT

Research on Americans’ retirement readiness indicates a wide range of preparedness for the golden years. Called a “crisis” by researchers, retirement for some may include significant choices: continued employment or utilization of social welfare services. This article describes factors contributing to the retirement crisis and roles social workers can play in assisting older retirees. Disparity in household retirement savings exists by ethnicity. On the front lines serving aging individuals and their families, social work professionals are well situated to collaborate with individuals, and other providers, to address financial, social and emotional pillars necessary in facilitating a safe and secure retirement.     

“Granny” au pairs in online French news media: a crueller shade of optimism?

This article examines the French media representation of low-cost live-in “granny” au pairing services available to French families in France and abroad. It argues that the French news broadcast media repackage “granny” au pairing as positive ageing while underplaying its status as work. The media not only gloss over the low (or no) payment these older single women receive, but also sidestep the precarious economic conditions which motivate them to undertake this work. Instead of portraying au pairs as underpaid workers, it promotes au pairing as “good-life fantasies” and au pairs as active agers. “Granny” au pairs are framed as glamorous, adventurous tourists, or as devoted super grannies. Following Lauren Berlant’s notion of “cruel optimism,” I argue that the media promote these fantasies despite the lack of evidence of reciprocity in the au pairs’ surrogate family relations and working arrangements. There is a sense of cruel optimism in the way these fantasies deny the reality of au pairing as work, assume that older citizens should find private solutions for inadequate pensions, and reinforce the idea that constant activity is what is required of older single women.     

The challenge of keeping Japanese older people economically active

Japanese society faces serious problems due to population ageing. Both the number and percentage of people aged 65 years old and over are increasing. The ratio of those aged 65+ was 17.3 per cent in 2000, but the estimate of the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research is that the ratio will become 28.7 per cent in 2025 and will reach 40 per cent in 2050. This article consists of four sections. In the first the characteristics of issues associated with population ageing in Japan are discussed. The actual situations of employment and lives of older workers are introduced. The second section analyses government policies to address the ageing of the population. The Japanese government is trying to address the issue through encouraging older people to work longer. The promotion of efforts to extend longer working lives is discussed. In the third section a rehiring system and two cases of Japanese firms are described. Those enterprises are effectively employing older workers. Their experiences would be interesting for those planning to hire older workers. The last section discusses how to resolve challenges associated with population ageing. It is shown that continuous training is one of the most important ways of keeping older people productive.     

Early retirement differences between Denmark and The Netherlands: A cross-national comparison of push and pull factors in two small European welfare states

The goal of this study is to give a comprehensive empirical account of push and pull factors, situated at various societal levels, which may influence people's early retirement. Factors in two contrasting European countries have been analysed and compared: Denmark, where the rate of early exit/retirement is relatively low, and The Netherlands, where this rate is relatively high. Our analysis, looking into possible explanations for the difference in rates, includes factors that operate at the macro or institutional level of the labour market and the social security system, at the meso level of firms and companies, and at the micro level of individual workers. In addition, we not only look into the effects of structural, objective factors, which impacts are usually analysed from an incentive perspective, but also into the effects of cultural factors, i.e. of preferences, attitudes and values. Cultural factors related to early exit have not been the object of much international comparison thus far, although their possible significance is readily acknowledged. The differences in retirement behaviour in Denmark and The Netherlands are explained by the fact that Danish workers, at all three levels, are less experiencing structural and cultural factors pushing them out of the labour market, as well as experiencing factors pulling them into retirement, compared to workers in The Netherlands.