Employment Trajectories beyond Retirement in Modern Societies

Objectives   Extending employment careers of individuals to higher ages is one way of dealing with the impacts of demographic aging. Thus, the development of efficient public policy reforms requires the understanding of labor force patterns among older workers. But the different concepts and driving forces of bridge and post retirement employment are not understood in their complexity so far. Our study examines to what extent employment histories, individuals' attributes, and firm characteristics influence the likelihood of pursuing different employment patterns beyond retirement of birth cohorts 1940 to 1942.

Methods   proportional subhazard models accounting for competing risks; German social security data linked to pension accounts, biographies on a day to day basis of 15.000 retirees.

Results   We find that retirees transition in post-retirement employment much faster when working in the same environment as prior to retirement. Transition probabilities into a different work environment differ significantly by cohort and gender. The cumulative incidence of entering same work environments decreases with increasing wages in the career job. Retirees with lower labor market attachments show a higher cumulative incidence of transitioning in different work environments. In addition, we confirm the influence of firm characteristics.

Conclusions Financial situation, labor market attachments, health, and firm characteristics influence the transition in different post retirement job trajectories. Knowing these factors helps to align public policy specifically to the older workforce. More efficient ways to extend working lives within their prospects and constrains and to avoid old-age poverty can be implemented.