The effect of job quality on quality of life and wellbeing in later career stages: A multilevel and longitudinal analysis on older workers in Europe

This paper uses data from four waves of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and investigates the effect of job quality on CASP-12, which is a measure of quality of life and wellbeing, on a large and longitudinal sample (30,473 observations nested within 21,278 individuals) of workers aged 50-64 years in 14 European countries. Building on the different theoretical models of work-related stress and wellbeing and using Self-Organizing Map, sampled workers were grouped into different job quality clusters. Then, multilevel and growth curve modelling was used to examine: i) the effect of cluster membership on CASP-12; ii) whether protracted membership in different job quality clusters could produce cumulative effects on CASP-12; and iii) the moderating effect of the national unemployment rate. Findings indicate that a wellbeing gradient exists in which higher CASP-12 scores result from membership in the better job quality cluster; however, there is no evidence of cumulative effects of job quality on CASP-12. Finally, analyses confirm country-specific relationships between job quality and quality of life and wellbeing; namely, they indicate that the wellbeing gradient associated with better job quality is steeper in countries with higher unemployment rates.