Quality of Work, Health and Early Retirement: European Comparisons

Is psychosocial risk prevention possible? Deconstructing common presumptions

“…Data further shows that those exposed to the worst psychosocial working conditions engage in less lifelong learning (Siegrist & Wahrendorf, 2013), which has important implications in light of the ageing workforce. Public and organizational strategies aiming to keep people longer in employment will not be effective unless both policy makers and businesses prioritize the development of a working environment that is conducive to longer and healthier working lives; managing psychosocial risks is essential in this endeavor (Langenhan, Leka & Jain, 2013).…”

Nothing ventured, nothing gained! How and under which conditions employers provide employability-enhancing practices to their older workers

“…It is clear that stimulating and ensuring workers' employability has positive impacts for older workers' labour market participation. Higher work capability is found to increase the active participation of older workers in the labour force or to delay their retirement (Siegrist, Wahrendorf, Von dem Knesebeck 2006, Siegrist andWahrendorf 2010). Also switching to less demanding jobs or reducing working hours appears to enhance labour participation (Hurd and McGarry 1993).…”

Psychosocial work factors and older workers’ health in Europe

“…Job insecurity was the sole significant predictor in the pooled analysis, in the Social Partnership and in the Mixed or Transitional regimes. As suggested in the literature, this may be related to macro-level circumstances such as a dearth of alternative market opportunities for the older workers, especially in countries with a high unemployment rate (Dragano et al 2011;Eurofound and EU-OSHA 2014;Lunau et al 2013;Siegrist and Wahrendorf 2011). The fear of losing one's job may influence perceptions of job insecurity, and the threat of long-term unemployment is particularly more incisive among workers 50 years old or over than for younger working cohorts.…”

“…Good working conditions and well-being have been found to delay retirement intentions in the near future (Siegrist et al 2007), and were also found capable of extending older workers' participation in the labour market even when disabled or impaired (Pollak 2012). Siegrist and Wahrendorf (2011) found that continued employment after 60 years old was more prevalent among workers in good health and with perceived high job control, yet the association was weakened when controlling for country, suggesting that national contexts may affect the quality of work and chances of being employed after age 60. Additionally, quality of work was generally higher in countries with marked active labour market policies-particularly, lifelong learning-while extended employment into old age was more frequent in countries investing more in rehabilitation services-as for health care and labour reintegration are concerned.…”