Back to Work: Expectations and Realizations of Work after Retirement

Abstract

This paper analyzes a puzzling aspect of retirement behavior known as “unretirement.” Nearly 50 percent of retirees follow a nontraditional retirement path that involves partial retirement or unretirement, and at least 26 percent of retirees later unretire. I explore two possible explanations: 1) unretirement transitions result from failures in planning or financial shocks; and 2) unretirement transitions are anticipated prior to retirement, reflecting a more complex retirement process. I show that unretirement was anticipated for the vast majority of those returning to work, and is not a result of financial shocks, poor planning or low wealth accumulation.

Satisfação com a Vida em Aposentados que Continuam Trabalhando

“…These data agree with the studies by Knoll (2011) andMaestas (2010), which highlighted that perception of low financial status is not the main reason for return to work during retirement. Knoll also found that people with better health conditions and socioeconomic level tend to work for a longer time than those who are less healthy and have poor financial conditions.…”

“…Our conclusions agree with data in the literature and affirm that reasons for continuing to work in retirement are related to psychosocial factors (Khoury et al, 2010;Maestas, 2010;Wöhrmann et al, 2014). Our study sought to assess parallels with satisfaction with life and showed the factors of higher impact with satisfaction with life were the professional, relational, and intrinsic perception reasons to return to work, which caused a break in retirement.…”

Older Americans Employment and Retirement

“…Instead of following the traditional retirement pattern (i.e., leaving a full-time career job for full retirement without reentry), nearly 50 % of older Americans are choosing to gradually reduce their workforce commitment by taking a bridge job (i.e., taking a new job after retirement from a career job) or go through phased retirement (i.e., continuing to work part-time with the same employer to supplement retirement benefits); many of them experience multiple transitions among employment, non-work, and retirement status (Cahill et al 2006;Maestas 2010;Purcell 2005). For many older persons, work trajectories are characterized by a sequence of transitions, including full-time employment, part-time employment, unemployment, and labor force nonparticipation.…”

“…Bridge jobs are becoming more prevalent among members of more recent cohorts (Giandrea et al 2009). It was estimated between 48 % and 60 % of the sample subjects experienced labor force reentry within six years after retirement (Maestas 2010). Thus the existing evidence shows considerable variability in the pathways to retirement.…”

“…Higher-educated older workers are more likely than less-educated workers to continue working or take bridge jobs (Kim and DeVaney 2005;Mutchler et al 1997). Similarly, higher-income people tend to continue working or return to work after complete retirement (Maestas 2010). In addition, sufficient economic resources enable older workers to undergo smooth exists from the labor force (Mutchler et al 1997) and to exit the labor force fully (Giandrea et al 2009).…”