Background: Retirement is a life-course transition in late adult life that is marked by major changes that may affect healthy lifestyles. Our aim is to give an overview of the current knowledge on changes in smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity and dietary habits during the transition to retirement. This may provide clues to a better targeting and timing of preventive activities at older age. Methods: Literature search in Medline, Scopus, Embase, PsycInfo, Social SciSearch and SciSearch limited to English-language papers published between 2001 and May 2013. Results of 20 original papers are summarized in a narrative review. Results: Some studies report an increase in alcohol consumption after retirement, whereas others found a decrease or no change at all. Those who retired involuntarily tended to increase their alcohol consumption, whereas retirees who quit voluntarily did not change their alcohol consumption. Leisure-time physical activity seems to increase slightly after retirement, especially moderately intensive physical activity. This increase does not compensate the loss of work-related physical activity such as the work itself or work-related transportation. The studies on changes in smoking and dietary habits were too limited to draw conclusions. Conclusions: The transition to retirement is accompanied with both favourable and unfavourable lifestyle changes, depending on the type of lifestyle, lifestyle indicator and the personal situation of the retiree. The (pre-)retirement period may well offer a suitable opportunity for preventive action, for example in pre-retirement programmes, planning or other retirement-related support.

Retirement and a healthy lifestyle: opportunity or pitfall? A narrative review of the literature

Background: Due to the aeging of the population, there is a societal need for workers to prolong their working lives. In the Netherlands, many employees still leave the workforce before the official retirement age of 65. Previous quantitative research showed that poor self-perceived health is a risk factor of (non-disability) early retirement. However, little is known on how poor health may lead to early retirement, and why poor health leads to early retirement in some employees, but not in others. Therefore, the present qualitative study aims to identify in which ways health influences early retirement. Methods: Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with 30 employees (60–64 years) who retired before the official retirement age of 65. Participants were selected from the Study on Transitions in Employment, Ability and Motivation. The interviews were transcribed verbatim, a summary was made including a timeline, and the interviews were open coded. Results: In 15 of the 30 persons, health played a role in early retirement. Both poor and good health influenced early retirement. For poor health, four pathways were identified. First, employees felt unable to work at all due to health problems. Second, health problems resulted in a self-perceived (future) decline in the ability to work, and employees chose to retire early. Third, employees with health problems were afraid of a further decline in health, and chose to retire early. Fourth, employees with poor health retired early because they felt pushed out by their employer, although they themselves did not experience a reduced work ability. A good health influenced early retirement, since persons wanted to enjoy life while their health still allowed to do so. The financial opportunity to retire sometimes triggered the influence of poor health on early retirement, and often triggered the influence of good health. Employees and employers barely discussed opportunities to prolong working life. Conclusions: Poor and good health influence early retirement via several different pathways. To prolong working life, a dialogue between employers and employees and tailored work-related interventions may be helpful.

/pdf/pathways-through-which-health-influences-early-retirement-a-47jpd3p854.pdf

Pathways through which health influences early retirement: a qualitative study

To date, determinants of retirement timing have been studied separately within various disciplines, such as occupational health and economics. This narrative literature review explores the determinants of retirement timing in countries, and relevant domains among older workers from both an economic and occupational health perspective. A literature search was conducted using 11 databases. Longitudinal studies on determinants of retirement timing were included. Study inclusion criteria were as follows: full-text article written in English or Dutch, conducted in humans, main outcome was time until retirement (i.e. retirement date or retirement age), and longitudinal design. Next, the included articles were screened for hypotheses on retirement timing and these articles with hypotheses were subjected to a quality assessment. Determinants for retirement timing were classified into multiple domains by three researchers. The literature search identified 20 articles. The determinants of retirement timing were classified into eight domains: demographic factors, health factors, social factors, social participation, work characteristics, financial factors, retirement preferences, and macro effects. In total, we identified 49 determinants, ranging from one (social, and retirement preferences) to 21 determinants (work characteristics) per domain. The findings suggest that there is a wide range of determinants that influence retirement timing in modern industrialized countries and that these determinants differ between countries. We recommend that researchers include determinants from various domains when studying retirement timing, while taking into account a country’s context.

/pdf/domains-and-determinants-of-retirement-timing-a-systematic-2x3dsyogxe.pdf

Domains and determinants of retirement timing : A systematic review of longitudinal studies

This paper explores the extent to which health, employment, family, or finances are associated with earlier-than-planned retirement using the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The importance of any shock that drives early retirement depends both on its effect on those experiencing it and its prevalence in the population; therefore, the analysis proceeds in two steps. First, a probit regression is used to determine the strength of the relationship between the shocks and earlier-than-planned retirement, controlling for individual characteristics. Second, to incorporate the prevalence of the shock, counterfactual experiments are run to determine how much early retirement would be reduced in the population if these shocks did not occur.

/pdf/what-causes-workers-to-retire-before-they-plan-55i3wwrcxf.pdf

What Causes Workers to Retire Before They Plan

Retirement is often concentrated at specific ages—in particular the ‘normal retirement age’ and an ‘early retirement age’. Financial incentives cannot fully explain this. Moreover, the participation effect of a higher normal retirement age importantly exceeds the encompassing income effect. Based on a literature survey, we conclude that social norms, default options, and reference-dependent utility are likely explanations for the individual propensity to retire at specific retirement ages. Further empirical research on non-financial determinants of retirement is needed to fully understand individual retirement behavior.

Non-financial Determinants of Retirement: A Literature Review

Beslissingen rond werk en pensioen worden genomen in een sterk veranderend economisch landschap. Aan de ene kant doet de kredietcrisis velen beseffen dat pensioenaanspraken niet vanzelfsprekend zijn en dat langer doorwerken wellicht noodzakelijk is.Aan de andere kant kan de noodzaak tot herstructurering binnen bedrijven en organisaties de arbeidsmarktkansen van ouderen sterk verminderen. Zeker is evenwel dat de context van pensioneringsbeslissingen structureel van karakter aan het veranderen is. Het onderhavige onderzoek schetst een beeld van het recente uittredegedrag van werknemers en de krachten die daarop van invloed zijn. De ervaringen van werknemers van vier grote organisaties in Nederland (Rijksoverheid, IBM, Maxeda en Unilever) vormen de bron van de onderzoeksbevindingen. Zij zijn tussen 2001 en 2007 gevolgd in het maken van keuzes op de arbeidsmarkt.

De vervagende grens tussen werk en pensioen: over doorwerkers, doorstarters en herintreders

Virtually all Western countries are seeking to bring retirement ages more in line with increases in longivity. The central question in this paper is whether individuals choose a retirement age that fits their life expectancy . This would be ideal from a public policy initiative. The present study aims to test empirically whether retirement planning varies with expectations of survival among a sample of older employees in the Netherlands. Two questions are addressed: 1) What are older employees' expectations of their remaining lifetime, and what factors influence this subjective life expectancy? 2) Are individuals who perceive longer life horizons (high subjective life expectancy) more inclined to retire later than people who expect to live shorter? Using data from a panel study on retirement behaviour in the Netherlands (N=1,621 older employees aged 50-60), regression and survival models are estimated to examine the effect of subjective life expectancy on retirement planning and behaviour. The results indicate that subjective life expectancy is a factor that is taken into account in retirement decision making, at least as far as retirement intentions are concerned. Older employees with longer time horizons have a preference for later retirement. When it comes to actual behaviour, however, time horizon does not appear to play a role. The results suggest that particularly employees with a high perceived life expectancy and an intention to work longer do not succeed in carrying their intentions into effect.

Langer leven, langer werken?De rol van gepercipieerde levensverwachting in het uittredeproces

Do retirement dreams come true

Gaan mensen langer werken? In rapporten en beleidsaanbevelingen over vergrijzing op de arbeidsmarkt wordt deze vraag veelal stilzwijgend positief beantwoord. Het exacte antwoord op deze vraag is echter niet zo eenduidig als wel eens wordt aangenomen. Beslissingen rond werk en pensioen worden genomen in een sterk veranderend economisch landschap. Aan de ene kant doet de kredietcrisis velen beseffen dat pensioenaanspraken niet vanzelfsprekend zijn en dat langer doorwerken wellicht noodzakelijk is. Aan de andere kant kan de noodzaak tot herstructurering binnen bedrijven en organisaties de arbeidsmarktkansen van ouderen sterk verminderen. Zeker is evenwel dat de context van pensioneringsbeslissingen structureel van karakter aan het veranderen is.

/pdf/beslissingen-rond-langer-werken-de-onzichtbare-drempels-voor-l3rabya2rw.pdf

Beslissingen rond langer werken: de onzichtbare drempels voor een later pensioen

This article links organizational forces to individual decision making on retirement. We examine to what extent work characteristics and organizational context (organizational policies and workplace norms toward retirement) affect the (planned) retirement age of workers aged 50 and over. We use data from the NIDI Work and Retirement Panel. This is a longitudinal study among older workers of three private sector organizations and among civil servants in the Netherlands. We use information for those employees that participated in 2001 as well in 2007 (N = 1,611). The results indicate that job characteristics are associated with retirement decision making: older individuals with attractive jobs (in terms of challenge and growth) have a higher (planned) retirement age, the opposite holds for older workers with demanding jobs. Social forces in the work place are relevant as well. The results indicate that older workers in organizations with an ‘early exit culture’, where almost all co-workers take early retirement, show a low propensity to continue working. Perceived supervisor support for extending working life has the opposite effect. Workers that feel that their supervisor has a positive attitude towards working longer, have a higher (planned) retirement age. Keywords: retirement intention, retirment timing, work context, organizational context, normative context, supervisor support.

Besluitvorming rondom pensioneren: de invloed van werk- en organisatiecontext

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