Gender differences in retirement decisions in Hong Kong

The study of labor force participation at older ages and the process of retirement do not have a long tradition in Asia's newly developed societies. This study, based on telephone survey of 950 respondents, examines various socio-economic factors that would influence retirement decision among older workers in Hong Kong. The findings show that older men were more likely to participate in the labor force than older women. Interestingly, older workers, in particular older women, with pension were less likely to retire. Having a working spouse decreased the likelihood of retirement and older workers, in particular older women, living with married children were more likely to retire. Poor health also discourages the propensity to continue working at old age. These findings confirm that retirement entails much more than just a decision to stop work, and that there were gender differences in retirement decision. Finally, several policy challenges, with reference to elderly women, concerning older workers' labor force participation were discussed.     

Occupational influences on retirement,disability, and death

This research examines the alternative mechanisms by which occupations influence the nature and timing of older men's labor force withdrawal. We specifically assess the extent to which occupational factors operate directly and indirectly on exiting events and whether occupations constrain traditional determinants of labor force participation. Based on a discrete-time hazard modeling approach, the results substantiate that the occupational task activities--substantive complexity and physical demands--are key elements of the work environment that are evaluated against nonwork alternatives. In the case of retirement, these aspects of occupational attractiveness function as a dominant and direct force in retirement decision making. With regard to disability, the occupational attribute of substantive complexity operates as an indirect advantage (through higher wages) by reducing the risk of disability. Indicators of career continuity also influence retirement among older workers. Finally, the results suggest that financial characteristics and health problems are central to the distribution of older workers across the alternative destination statuses of retirement, disability, and death.     

Pension reform, employment by age, and long-run growth

We study the effects of pension reform on hours worked by three active generations, education of the young, the retirement decision of older workers, and aggregate growth in a four-period OLG model. The model explains important facts well for many OECD countries. Our simulation results prefer an intelligent pay-as-you-go system above a fully funded private system. Positive effects on employment and growth are the strongest when the pay-as-you-go system includes a tight link between individual labor income and the pension, and when it attaches a high weight to labor income earned as an older worker to compute the pension assessment base.     

Worry and Bother: Factors in Rural Women’s Health Decision Making

This exploratory study examined older rural women’s health decision making. Thirty-three rural women were recruited to participate in semistructured qualitative interviews. Major themes emerged that focused on rural women’s comments regarding their concerns about not worrying or bothering their children with personal health matters. Themes were discussed in the context of an ethic of care. Results suggest that it is important for mental health professionals, family physicians, social workers, and other practitioners to be aware of the sense of worry and concern for others that older rural women bring to bear in decision making about personal health issues.     

Demographics,the Third Age and partial retirement: Policy proposals to accommodate the changing picture of female retirement in Canada

Much concern has been raised around the potential impact of the retirement of the large baby boom generation. This article specifically addresses the unique issues surrounding the retirement of female baby boomers. Demographic changes, including increased labor force participation, coupled with declining fertility rates, have resulted in a social transformation of the roles women play in society. Despite these changes, women still bear much of the caregiving responsibilities in the household, which can complicate retirement choices. This article examines female retirement in the Canadian context and presents three policy proposals to expand women’s retirement choices, encourage longer-term labor force participation, and thereby extend their working lives into the Third Age.     

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.     

A Group Practice Strategy for Helping Unemployed Older Women Find Employment

Unemployed older women face significant obstacles in the labor market when attempting to find employment. This article presents a grounded group practice strategy for assisting older women to regain employment. Previous research has shown that job search self-efficacy is a significant mediator of continued job search activity among older workers. Based on empirical research findings and Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, this practice approach focuses on helping older women to increase their job search self-efficacy and opportunities for securing employment.     

Retirement decisions in a discrete choice model and implications for the government budget The case of Belgium

The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of the retirement decision of the elderly in Belgium. The model used is an extension of the participation model. It offers three choices: full-time work, part-time work and retirement. A CES-utility function is maximised over this opportunity set. Estimation was done on two separate samples for men and women. Using the estimation results, the financial consequences of some policy changes in the social security system are calculated.The author is indebted to A. Decoster, E. Schokkaert, P. Van Rompuy and two anonymous referees for carefully reading and commenting this paper. The remaining errors are of course entirely the author's responsibility.     

Aging Public Services and the Position of Older Women: An Australian Case Study

Contemporary labor markets are characterized by both aging of the workforce and the increase in participation of women. At the intersection of these two policy agendas are older women. Governments and employers recognize the importance of attracting and retaining older workers to address skills shortages, but the aging workforce discourse remains largely gender neutral. This research considers the intersection of age and gender in the context of public services, which are large employers of both women and older workers. It focuses on the agencies in an Australian state public service. The research finds that, despite decades of equal opportunity programs, there is still evidence of subtle inequalities and cumulative disadvantage. While the case study agencies employ a large proportion of older women, these women were generally recruited at younger ages and aged within the workforce. Their advancement and development opportunities were also inferior to those of older men. Despite these lesser opportunities, older women are generally very satisfied with their employment, and the employer should explore these residual inequalities if genuinely seeking to attract and retain all older workers.     

Adding choice to the contraceptive mix: lessons from Indonesia

Researchers asked 1945 women of reproductive age living in East Java, Indonesia what contraceptive method they preferred during the women's 1st visit to a government family planning clinic. Soon after field workers introduced them to a method, the researchers asked the women what method the field workers suggested and what method the women planned to use. They again spoke to them 1 year later to determine contraception continuation. The field workers granted 86.3% of the women their method choice. Only 9% of these women had stopped using their chosen method while 72% of the women who were not allowed to use their chosen method stopped using the method assigned to them. Thus choice was a key factor in sustained use of contraceptives. Further if family planning workers stick to a mutual participation of both themselves and their clients, they respect clients' method choices and, by informing clients about the chosen method, they strengthen clients' decision making. In the early 1990s, another researcher had developed a system to determine contraceptive needs at various stages of the reproductive period (before 1st marriage, after 1st marriage but prior to 1st birth, after 1st birth but prior to last birth, and after last birth). She applied observed contraceptive preferences for women using contraception within each life cycle stage to the age specific contraception need, derived from data from the 1987 Contraceptive Prevalence Survey for Indonesia, to determine the ideal contraceptive mix. Her calculations demonstrated that oral contraceptive use was high, IUD use was low, particularly among older women, and too few sterilizations had occurred, particularly among older women. Thus Indonesia needed to broaden the contraceptive mix to encourage methods that better meet women's reproductive life cycle needs.     

Economic development and labor force participation of older persons

The effect of economic development on labor force participation rates of older men and women is examined using national data for 134 countries. The analysis provides new insights into the evolution of retirement patterns with rising personal income, slowing population growth, the aging of the population, and shifts in the composition of employment. The analysis indicates a negative relationship between per capita income and labor force participation rates. This relationship is stronger for older men than for older women and is most apparent among middle income countries. An older population is associated with lower participation rates for older men and higher widow rates produce higher participation rates among older women. Industrial changes such as a decline in the proportion of the labor force employed in agriculture lower the proportion of older persons in the labor force. Finally, national social security policies are shown to impact the proportion of older persons that remains in the labor force.     

From new entries to retirement: The changing age composition of the U.S. male labor force by industry

The process whereby the age composition of an industry is formed appears to be largely a function of past rates of growth in employment; the social (or institutional) framework sets limits and affects the ensuing age composition but relatively little. The following types will illustrate this process. 1. Consider an industry which has increased considerably more rapidly in employment over several decades than has the total labor force. The rapid growth brings in a disproportionately large share of youth who are first entering the labor market; other younger workers move from slowly growing (or declining) industries. These movements add many more younger workers. On the other hand, there is little, if any, unemployment in the industry so that there are few pressures being exerted on the older workers to retire, and relatively few will retire. Under these circumstances the age composition will be younger than tliat of the entire male working force. 2. Consider an industry which has grown slowly, if at all, for some time. There will be comparatively fewer (in comparison with the first example) new entries and less mobility from other industries. The men already engaged in this industry will continue to work there; they gradually become older and are not counterbalanced by increasing numbers of young workers. Unemployment is likely to be higher, leading to a higher retirement rate. There are also likely to be large numbers of men a decade or two under the retirement age-the heritage of an "ancient" period when the industry had experienced significant increases in employment; these add pressure on the older men and more retire. The age composition of such an industry gradually veers toward the older side; it is considerably older than that of the entire male working force. At any given moment of time most industries will reflect variable past growth rates. For example, one industry may have a very large proportion of young workers because it grew very rapidly in employment only during the decade prior to the time of study (i.e., the time of a decennial census); another may have a large proportion in the middle ages reflecting very rapid growth two or three decades earlier, followed by very slow growth in the decade prior to the time of study; and so forth.In light of the foregoing analysis, it appears that technological change, as measured by average annual changes in output per worker, has little bearing on the age composition of an industry. Conversely, the latter probably does not affect changes in output per worker.     

The Retirement Life Course in America at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century

As the baby boom cohorts expand the number of U.S. retirees, population estimates of the employment, withdrawal and reentry behaviors of older Americans’ remain scarce. How long do people work? How frequently is retirement reversed? How many years are people retired? What is the modal age of retirement? And, how do the patterns for women compare to those for men? Using the 1992–2004 Health and Retirement Study, we estimate multistate working life tables to update information on the age-graded regularities of the retirement life course of men and women in the United States. We find that at age 50 men can expect to spend half of their remaining lives working for pay, while women can expect to spend just one-third. Half of all men and women have left the labor force by ages 63 and 61, respectively. Although the majority of retirement exits are final, variation in the nature and duration of the retirement process is substantial, as about a third of men’s and women’s exits are reversed. By quantifying these patterns for men and women, we provide a sound empirical basis for evaluating policy designed to address the financial pressures population aging places on public and private pension systems.     

Determinants of engagement in paid work following social security benefit receipt among older women

Work behavior among older men approaching or following retirement has received considerable research attention over the past two decades, but research on older women's work behavior is still in its incipient stage. Based on data from the 1982 New Beneficiary Survey (NBS) and the 1991 New Beneficiary Follow-up (NBF), this study analyzes the extent and determinants of employment among women who received their first Social Security benefits between 1980 and 1981. More than one fourth of the women continued to work or rejoined the labor force following their first Social Security benefit receipt. Financial need was found to be the primary reason for and the most significant determinant of women's continuing work or (re)entry into the labor force. But the level of education, health, spouse's work status, and previous work history were also found to be significant determinants of the likelihood and duration of their employment following Social Security receipt.     

Effect of Retirement on Cognition: Evidence From the Irish Marriage Bar

This study empirically investigates the relationship between retirement duration and cognition among older Irish women using microdata collected in the third wave of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression estimates indicate that the longer an individual has been retired, the lower the cognitive functioning, with other factors thought to affect cognition held constant (e.g., age, education, and early-life socioeconomic conditions). However, retirement is potentially endogenous with respect to cognition because cognition may affect decisions relating to retiring. If so, the OLS estimates will be biased. To test for this possibility, instrumental variable (IV) estimation is used. This method requires an IV that is highly correlated with retirement duration but not correlated with cognition. The instrument used in this study is based on the so-called marriage bar, the legal requirement that women leave paid employment upon getting married, which took effect in Ireland in the 1930s and was abolished only in the 1970s. The IV regression estimates, along with formal statistical tests, provide no evidence in support of the view that cognition affects retirement decisions. The finding of a small negative effect of retirement duration on cognition is robust to alternative empirical specifications. These findings are discussed in the wider context of the effects of work-like and work-related activities on cognition.     

延迟退休对职工效用最大化的影响——基于“S”型效用函数的分析

"十四五"规划提出"实施渐进式延迟法定退休年龄",如何使延迟退休政策被大众广泛接受是我国养老保险制度改革的重点问题。基于个人效用最大化原理,结合我国现行养老保险制度和前景价值函数中的"S"型效用函数,构建关于工资收入、养老保险缴纳费用、养老金财富和闲暇时间的综合效用模型,从性别、闲暇偏好、工资收入水平、利率、参保年龄、养老金个人缴费率六个方面确定个人效用最大化的退休年龄,并结合我国当前国情,对延迟退休政策提出针对性的建议。研究结果表明:不同退休年龄下的个人效用函数是关于退休年龄的"先大幅上升,后缓慢下降"曲线。男性参保职工于63岁退休获得效用最大值,而女性参保职工于60岁退休获得效用最大值,且二者最优退休年龄并不会随工资收入水平的改变而改变,工资收入水平只会对参保职工获得的效用绝对值产生影响,工资收入水平越高,参保职工获得效用值越大。此外,若闲暇偏好越低、利率越低、参保年龄越大、养老保险个人缴费率越低,则参保职工的最优退休年龄就越大。总体而言,只有考虑性别因素、给予延迟退休政策适当的弹性操作空间、改进养老保险计发办法、创造更好的老年就业环境,才能使延迟退休政策更好地推行。     

The impact of men's and women's retirement on marital relations: a comparative analysis

The study examined whether men's and women's retirement have a differential impact on several aspects of marital life: Power relations (as reflected in decision-making), spousal resources, division of household tasks, and quality of marriage. Questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 519 pre-retired and retired Israelis. The findings indicate that in general, both men's and women's retirement have a similar impact on marital relations in all of the areas examined. No appreciable change in spousal resources was found after retirement, but there was evidence of change in decision-making patterns about spending time and carrying out feminine and general tasks. Retired respondents of both sexes reported fewer marital complaints than the pre-retired respondents, but also expressed less marital enjoyment. It was also found that men's retirement has a different impact than women's retirement on decisions about house-hold affairs and performance of feminine tasks. In addition, gender-based differences were found in several areas, irrespective of employment status. The women reported higher quality of marriage than did the men, and more resources for strengthening the family, whereas the men perceived themselves as making more decisions in the important areas of life, as more hardy, and as controlling the family's financial resources.     

The future in their hands: Graduating student midwives’ plans,job satisfaction and the desire to work in midwifery continuity of care

BackgroundMidwife-led continuity of care models benefit women and the midwives who work in them. Australian graduate midwives are familiar with, and educated to provide, continuity of care to women although the opportunity to work exclusively in positions providing continuity of care on graduation is uncommon.AimTo explore the immediate and aspirational employment plans and workforce choices, reasons for staying in midwifery and perceptions around factors likely to influence job satisfaction of midwives about to graduate from one Australian university during the years 2012–2016.MethodsThis longitudinal study draws on survey responses from five cohorts of midwifery students in their final year of study.FindingsNinety five out of 137 midwifery students responded to the survey. Almost nine out of ten respondents either aspired to work in a continuity of care model or recognised that they would gain job satisfaction by providing continuity of care to women. Factors leading to job satisfaction identified included making a difference to the women for whom they care, working in models of care which enabled them to provide women with ‘the care I want to give’, and having the ability to make autonomous midwifery decisions.ConclusionAligning early graduate work experiences with continuity of care models may have a positive impact on the confidence and professional development of graduate midwives, which in turn may lead to greater satisfaction and retention among a workforce already committed to supporting the maternity healthcare reform agenda.     

Using a pregnancy decision support program for women choosing birth after a previous caesarean in Japan: A mixed methods study

Background

Opportunities for women and providers to use decision aids and share decisions about birth after caesarean in practice are currently limited in Japan. This is despite known benefits of decision aids to support value-sensitive healthcare decisions.

Women's Employment History and Their Post-Retirement Health and Resources

The purpose of this study is to assess the degree to which the advantages apparently accruing to employed women are maintained into the post-retirement years. That is, do women who were employed cany with them into the retirement years more social and fmancial resources and do they maintain better health than women who remained largely outside the work force? The importance of this issue increases as greater numbers of women enter and remain in the work force and as our population ages. The study uses a longitudinal cohort design and employs the data from the National Center for Health Statistics' Longitudinal Study on Aging. This analysis uses the core questions from the 1984 National Health Interview Survey, the Supplement on Aging questions from 1984 and the follow-up data on mortality from the National Death lndex from 1984-1990. The data include the 4667 female respondents who were 70 years or older in 1984. Overall, the results suggest that women who have more recent paid employment have better health in their later years than women with no employment or no recent employment. However, for social and fmancial resources the direction of the relationships vary. For example, women with more recent employment have less social resources in the form of spouse and living children; however, they have more social resources in the form of social contacts with both family and friends. Having no history of paid employment increases women's risk of living in poverty and lacking private health insurance, but increases the chances that they own their own home. Interpretations and implications are discussed.