Adaptation or Exploration? Understanding Older Workers’ Plans for Post-Retirement Paid and Volunteer Work

Abstract

Numerous investigations have sought to understand the types of individuals who engage in post-retirement work. However, little is known about why older adults are motivated to engage. The aim of the present article is to examine the extent to which two possible mechanisms—adaptation (adjusting to the loss of work role) and exploration (retirement as opportunity to engage in activities in line with personal values)—play a role in explaining planning for paid work or volunteering after retirement. Analyses are based on large-scale survey data collected in 2015 among older workers in the Netherlands (N = 6,278). Results show that the large majority of older Dutch workers have plans for post-retirement paid and/or volunteer work. Moreover, both mechanisms appear to contribute to the understanding of post-retirement work plans, yet in different ways. Specifically, older workers who expect to miss latent work functions are more likely to have plans for post-retirement work, with their general values guiding the type of work they gravitate toward. Having plans for post-retirement paid work was more prevalent among older workers who attached more importance to personal growth, whereas having plans for volunteer work was more prevalent among older workers who had a stronger social orientation. Moreover, results suggest that men, more often than women, translate the anticipated loss of latent work functions into plans for post-retirement paid work. These insights regarding the motivational antecedents of post-retirement work plans are highly relevant in light of policy discussions of active and healthy aging.

Physical Activity during the Retirement Transition of Men and Women: A Qualitative Longitudinal Study

“…Moreover, the aim of this study was to gain a better understanding of the factors that lead older women and men to remain active in PA throughout the retirement transition. Building further on the insights of van Solinge and colleagues [ 31 ], planning activities when at work for after being retired gives a motivational insight. However, and more specifically, this study was designed to gain a better understanding of the extent to which adjustment and exploration mechanisms are important in explaining differences in PA both when one is still working in the labour market and when one has been retired for one year.…”

“…Two possible mechanisms, as adaptation (i.e., adjusting to the loss of work role) and exploration (i.e., retirement as opportunity to engage in activities in line with personal values), might play a role in explaining planning for being engaged in PA after retirement, as has been suggested in research focusing on these mechanisms as possible factors that can drive older workers to make plans for being engaged in paid work or volunteering after the retirement transition [ 31 ].…”

Associations between paid and unpaid work among Norwegian seniors: competition, complementarity or continuity?

“…Finally, this study was limited by the survey questions and instruments, which restricted the possibility for detailed analyses of the different types of paid and unpaid work activities the respondents were engaged in, and the motivations behind their involvement. In a recent article, Van Solinge et al ( 2021 ) identify different routes to paid and unpaid work after retirement. They find that both the need for adjustment to role loss and the search for personal development motivate post-retirement engagement.…”

Retirement anticipation - gendered patterns in a gender-equal society? a study of senior workers in Norway

“…Women will on average have had more career breaks and more spells of part-time work than men, but employment rates of mothers are comparatively high and the same is true for men's involvement in housework and childcare (Hook, 2006;Hook & Wolfe, 2012). However, the Norwegian labor market is still highly gender segregated with women dominating in the public sector and in education, health and social work, and men concentrated in the private sector and in manufacturing and finance (Teigen & Skjeie, 2017).…”