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I Can't Forget about U: Lifetime Unemployment and Retirement Well-Being

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  • Clark, Andrew E.

    (Paris School of Economics)

  • Lepinteur, Anthony

    (University of Luxembourg)

Abstract

It is well-known that unemployment leaves scars after re-employment, but does this scarring effect persist even after retirement? We analyse European data on retirees from the SHARE panel, and show that the well-being of the retired continues to reflect the unemployment that they experienced over their working life. These scarring effects are somewhat smaller for older retirees, but larger for those who arguably had higher expectations regarding the labour market when they were active. Despite the substantial variation in culture and labour-market institutions over the 29 countries in our sample, there are no significant country differences. This long-run scarring for those who have left the labour market underlines that contemporaneous correlations significantly under-estimate the well-being cost of unemployment.

Suggested Citation

  • Clark, Andrew E. & Lepinteur, Anthony, 2024. "I Can't Forget about U: Lifetime Unemployment and Retirement Well-Being," IZA Discussion Papers 17068, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp17068
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Clark, Andrew E. & Lepinteur, Anthony, 2019. "The causes and consequences of early-adult unemployment: Evidence from cohort data," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 107-124.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment; retirement; scarring; CASP; SHARE;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J21 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
    • J63 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Turnover; Vacancies; Layoffs
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being

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