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Older Americans Would Work Longer If Jobs Were Flexible

Author

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  • 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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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Katharine G. Abraham & Brad Hershbein & Susan N. Houseman, 2019. "Contract Work at Older Ages," NBER Chapters, in: Incentives and Limitations of Employment Policies on Retirement Transitions: Comparisons of Public and Private Sectors, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. Stefano Giglio & Matteo Maggiori & Johannes Stroebel & Stephen Utkus, 2019. "Five facts about beliefs and portfolios," CESifo Working Paper Series 7666, CESifo.
    6. 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.
    7. Raquel Fonseca & Simon Lord & Simon C. Parker, 2020. "Self-Employment at Older Ages in Canada," CIRANO Working Papers 2020s-11, CIRANO.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. Mark Borgschulte & Heepyung Cho, 2020. "Minimum Wages and Retirement," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 73(1), pages 153-177, January.
    11. Borgschulte, Mark & Cho, Heepyung, 2018. "Minimum Wages and Retirement," IZA Discussion Papers 11728, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. 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.

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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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