A systematic review of causes of recent increases in ages of labor market exit in OECD countries

Abstract

Ages of labor market exit have increased steadily since the late 1990s in OECD countries, but with continuing population aging, there are calls for further stimulation of labor force participation at older ages. Social scientists have extensively studied causes of variation in retirement timing between individuals and across countries, but have paid less attention to causes of variation over time. This study systematically reviews evidence of causes of increases in ages of labor market exit over the past 30 years in OECD countries. Two goals are pursued: first, to provide an overview of the retirement domains that have been subject to investigation; second to compare studies with respect to the magnitude of change in retirement behavior that they attributed to different causes, in different contexts. Nineteen studies were reviewed. Available evidence articulates itself around four domains: intercohort changes in labor force participation of women (3 studies), educational attainment (3 studies) and lifetime wealth (1 study), and changes to social security systems (16 studies). Determinants in all domains explain a significant amount of past increases in ages of labor market exit, though figures attributable to similar determinants vary between studies and across countries. Evidence suggests that further postponement of labor market exit may depend on further increases to normal retirement ages and more limited access to early retirement programs, but also on further increases in educational attainment and the continued integration of women in the labor market. However, a large share of the past increases in ages of labor market exit remains unexplained; therefore, other factors such as those related to work and organizational characteristics deserve further research.

Employee age moderates within-person associations of daily negative work events with emotion regulation, attention, and well-being

“…A possible age-related advantage in managing daily work stress would be of interest to organizations in light of widespread fears that the ageing workforce leads to a loss in company productivity (Oude Mulders et al, 2020), to policy makers who push for an increased labour force participation of older workers, as well as to ageing workers who face the prospect of working longer (Boissonneault et al, 2020). For example, organization can better leverage their multi-age workforce by tailoring support to those age groups who need it most and by stimulating knowledge and skill transfer between different generations at work.…”

Social Security Around the World

“…These programs are vital to narrow the income gap between seniors and working-age individuals and to reduce elderly poverty rates (Lee and Mason 2011), but population aging and changes in the labor market have important impacts on the sustainability of the programs across the world. Thus, it is important to investigate the future trend in labor force participation to investigate whether it will follow a similar pattern as observed in more developed economies (Boissonneault et al 2020;Matsukura et al 2018;Coile 2018). It is also relevant to perform similar studies considering other characteristics such as educational level, the performance of the labor demand, and the level of informality in the pension program.…”

Gender and Educational Inequalities in Extending Working Lives: Late-Life Employment Trajectories Across Three Decades in Seven Countries

“…Extension of public pension systems anchored late-life courses with a predictable retirement that marked a single and irreversible exit from career work (Moen et al 2005). The pre-retirement groups' average retirement ages and employment rates have been mostly declining (Boissonneault et al 2020). However, the course toward the early exit and a stable, employment-free Third Age (Laslett 1991) was stunted by social and demographic transitions.…”

“…Most OECD countries have restricted early retirement options and increased retirement ages (OECD 2019). These measures strongly contributed to extending working lives (Boissonneault et al 2020). For example, between 1995 and 2018, the OECD-average labor force participation for the group aged 55 to 64 increased from 48.7 to 63.9, and the average exit age changed from 62.…”