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Older Americans Would Work Longer If Jobs Were Flexible

Author

Listed:
  • Ameriks, John

    (The Vanguard Group, Inc.)

  • Briggs, Joseph

    (Federal Reserve Board of Governors)

  • Caplin, Andrew

    (New York University and NBER)

  • Lee, Minjoon

    (Carleton University)

  • Shapiro, Matthew D.

    (University of Michigan and NBER)

Abstract

Older Americans, even those who are long retired, have strong willingness to work, especially in jobs with flexible schedules. For many, labor force participation near or after normal retirement age is limited more by a lack of acceptable job opportunities or low expectations about finding them than by unwillingness to work longer. This paper establishes these findings using an approach to identification based on strategic survey questions (SSQs), purpose-designed to complement behavioral data. These findings suggest that demand-side factors are important in explaining late-in-life labor market behavior and need to be considered in designing policies aimed at promoting working longer.

Suggested Citation

  • Ameriks, John & Briggs, Joseph & Caplin, Andrew & Lee, Minjoon & Shapiro, Matthew D., 2018. "Older Americans Would Work Longer If Jobs Were Flexible," Research Papers 3743, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecl:stabus:3743
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    Cited by:

    1. Naoki Aizawa & Serena Rhee & Soojin Kim, 2018. "Labor Market Screening and Social Insurance Program Design for the Disabled," 2018 Meeting Papers 359, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Richard Rogerson & Johanna Wallenius, 2018. "Household Time Use Among Older Couples: Evidence and Implications for Labor Supply," 2018 Meeting Papers 90, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    3. Stefano Giglio & Matteo Maggiori & Johannes Stroebel & Stephen Utkus, 2021. "Five Facts about Beliefs and Portfolios," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(5), pages 1481-1522, May.
    4. John Ameriks & Joseph Briggs & Andrew Caplin & Minjoon Lee & Matthew D. Shapiro & Christopher Tonetti, 2018. "Shocks and Transitions from Career Jobs to Bridge Jobs and Retirement: A New Approach," Working Papers wp380, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    5. Raquel Fonseca & Simon Lord & Simon C. Parker, 2020. "Self-Employment at Older Ages in Canada," Cahiers de recherche / Working Papers 2003, Chaire de recherche sur les enjeux économiques intergénérationnels / Research Chair in Intergenerational Economics.
    6. 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.
    7. Sarantis Tsiaplias & Qi Zeng & Guay Lim, 2021. "Retail investor expectations and trading preferences," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2021n27, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    8. Richard Rogerson & Johanna Wallenius, 2019. "Household Time Use among Older Couples: Evidence and Implications for Labor Supply Parameters," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 134(2), pages 1079-1120.
    9. Erik Hernæs & Zhiyang Jia & John Piggott & Trond Christian Vigtel, 2020. "Work less but stay longer. Mature worker response to a flexibility reform," Discussion Papers 937, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    10. Dolado, Juan J. & Lale, Etienne & Turon, Hélène, 2021. "Zero-hours Contracts in a Frictional Labor Market," CEPR Discussion Papers 16843, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Ferranna, Maddalena & Sevilla, J.P. & Zucker, Leo & Bloom, David E., 2022. "Patterns of Time Use among Older People," IZA Discussion Papers 15227, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Pamela Giustinelli & Matthew D. Shapiro, 2018. "SeaTE: Subjective ex ante Treatment Effect of Health on Retirement," Working Papers wp382, University of Michigan, Michigan Retirement Research Center.
    13. Borgschulte, Mark & Cho, Heepyung, 2018. "Minimum Wages and Retirement," IZA Discussion Papers 11728, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    14. R. Jason Faberman & Andreas I. Mueller & Ayşegül Şahin* & Giorgio Topa, 2020. "The Shadow Margins of Labor Market Slack," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(S2), pages 355-391, December.
    15. Mark Borgschulte & Heepyung Cho, 2020. "Minimum Wages and Retirement," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(1), pages 153-177, January.
    16. Bart Hobijn & Ayşegül Şahin, 2021. "Maximum Employment and the Participation Cycle," NBER Working Papers 29222, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

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