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Work and Retirement Plans among Older Americans

Author

Listed:
  • Katherine G. Abraham

    (University of Maryland)

  • Susan N. Houseman

    (W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research)

Abstract

We compare older workers' plans for work and retirement with their subsequent work and retirement outcomes using panel data from the Health and Retirement Study. Among those with retirement plans, about half indicate they would like to cut back on their work hours or otherwise change the type of work they do prior to, or instead of, fully retiring. Yet, the fraction that follows through on these alternative plans is dramatically lower than the fraction that realizes plans to stop working. Our analysis shows that individuals who likely would need to change jobs in order to reduce their work hours are much less likely to have plans to reduce hours and, conditional on having such plans, are much less likely to follow through on them. Instead, a large fraction of these individuals stop working entirely. Our findings suggest that older workers may face substantial barriers to job change, and we conclude with a discussion of potential policy implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Katherine G. Abraham & Susan N. Houseman, 2004. "Work and Retirement Plans among Older Americans," Upjohn Working Papers 04-105, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:upj:weupjo:04-105
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. David Neumark, 2008. "The Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Challenge of Population Aging," NBER Working Papers 14317, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Huber, Martin & Lechner, Michael & Wunsch, Conny, 2013. "The Effect of Firms' Partial Retirement Policies on the Labour Market Outcomes of Their Employees," IZA Discussion Papers 7513, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Abraham, Katharine G. & Hershbein, Brad & Houseman, Susan N., 2021. "Contract work at older ages," Journal of Pension Economics and Finance, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 426-447, July.
    4. Damon Jones & Alexander M. Gelber & Daniel W. Sacks & Jae Song, 2017. "Using Kinked Budget Sets to Estimate Extensive Margin Responses: Method and Evidence from the Social Security Earnings Test," Working Papers 2017-034, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    5. Boockmann, Bernhard & Fries, Jan & Göbel, Christian, 2018. "Specific measures for older employees and late career employment," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 12(C), pages 159-174.
    6. David Blau & Tetyana Shvydko, 2011. "Labor Market Rigidities and the Employment Behavior of Older Workers," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 64(3), pages 464-484, April.
    7. Katharine G. Abraham & Susan N. Houseman, 2008. "Removing Barriers to Work for Older Americans," Book chapters authored by Upjohn Institute researchers, in: Timothy J. Bartik & Susan N. Houseman (ed.), A Future of Good Jobs? America's Challenge in the Global Economy, chapter 5, pages 161-202, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
    8. Ghosheh Jr, N.S. & Lee, Sangheon, & McCann, Deirdre M., 2006. "Conditions of work and employment for older workers in industrialized countries : understanding the issues," ILO Working Papers 993864863402676, International Labour Organization.
    9. repec:ilo:ilowps:386486 is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    retirement; social security; older; workers; Houseman; Abraham;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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