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Looking Back in Anger? Retirement and Unemployment Scarring

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  • Clemens Hetschko
  • Andreas Knabe
  • Ronnie Schöb

Abstract

Previous studies find that past unemployment reduces life satisfaction even after reemployment for non-monetary reasons (unemployment scarring). It is not clear, however, whether this scarring is only caused by employment-related factors, such as worsened working conditions, or increased future uncertainty as regards income and employment. Using German panel data, we identify non-employment-related scarring by examining the transition of unemployed people to retirement as a life event after which employment-related scarring does not matter anymore. We find evidence for non-employment-related non-monetary unemployment scarring for people who were unemployed for the first time in their life directly prior to retirement, but not for people with earlier unemployment experiences.

Suggested Citation

  • Clemens Hetschko & Andreas Knabe & Ronnie Schöb, 2014. "Looking Back in Anger? Retirement and Unemployment Scarring," CESifo Working Paper Series 4784, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_4784
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    Cited by:

    1. Suppa, Nicolai, 2021. "Unemployment and subjective well-being," GLO Discussion Paper Series 760, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Lina Anaya & Peter Howley & Muhammad Waqas & Gaston Yalonetzky, 2024. "Locked down in distress: A quasi‐experimental estimation of the mental‐health fallout from the COVID‐19 pandemic," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 62(1), pages 56-73, January.
    3. Alan Piper, 2014. "Zukunftsangst! Fear of (and Hope for) the Future and Its Impact on Life Satisfaction," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 706, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Hetschko, Clemens & Preuss, Malte, 2020. "Income in jeopardy: How losing employment affects the willingness to take risks," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    5. Alan Piper & David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2023. "Is pain associated with subsequent job loss? A panel study for Germany," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 76(1), pages 141-158, February.
    6. Piper, Alan T., 2018. "Adult life satisfaction: largely (though not wholly) contemporaneous? A System General Method of Moments dynamic panel analysis," MPRA Paper 85601, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Alan Piper & David G. Blanchflower & Alex Bryson, 2021. "Does Pain Lead to Job Loss? A Panel Study for Germany," DoQSS Working Papers 21-19, Quantitative Social Science - UCL Social Research Institute, University College London.
    8. Hudde, Ansgar & Jacob, Marita, 2022. "There’s More in the Data! Using Month-Specific Information to Estimate Changes Before and After Major Life Events," SocArXiv vueas, Center for Open Science.
    9. Alan Piper, 2023. "What Does Dynamic Panel Analysis Tell Us About Life Satisfaction?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(2), pages 376-394, June.
    10. Alan Piper, 2018. "Adult life satisfaction largely (though not wholly) contemporaneous," Discussion Papers 028, Europa-Universität Flensburg, International Institute of Management.
    11. Hetschko, Clemens & Knabe, Andreas & Schöb, Ronnie, 2021. "Happiness, Work, and Identity," GLO Discussion Paper Series 783, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    12. Dusanee Kesavayuth & Robert E Rosenman & Vasileios Zikos, 2022. "Leaving the labor market: Exit routes, personality traits and well-being," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 17(3), pages 1-20, March.
    13. Ansgar Hudde & Marita Jacob, 2023. "There’s More in the Data! Using Month-Specific Information to Estimate Changes Before and After Major Life Events," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1184, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment scarring; life satisfaction; retirement;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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