The Pros and Cons of Pro-Work Policies and Programs for Older Workers

Abstract

As the population of the United States ages, there is increasing pressure to encourage people to work past the traditional retirement age. A concern with "pro-work" policies, government and employer policies encouraging older workers to remain in the labor force, has grown out of these pressures. For most of the 20th century, government and employer policies instead tended to be "pro-retirement," encouraging workers to exit the labor force at a set age. In this chapter, we discuss the waning of pro-retirement policies and the rise of pro-work policies, along with the possible futures for pro-work policies. Putting pro-work policies in the context of organized labor, economic conditions, and social conditions, we discuss the potential implications for employers, government, and individuals. Today, pro-work policies have largely eclipsed the pro-retirement policies that dominated prior to the 1960s. However, by transferring risk from employers and government to workers, they tend to encourage work while creating a population of workers who are not financially well protected by the system. Over the next few decades, developing and implementing pro-work policies that protect and include more vulnerable populations is a task for organized labor, employees, employers, and policymakers alike. The aging of the U.S. population will pose substantial challenges to public policy and employer practices over the next few decades. While the United States is aging less rapidly than most other industrialized nations, the retirement of the Baby Boom generation will reshape the workplace over the next few decades. For instance, in 1980, individuals age 50 and above represented only 26% of the population. By 2050, individuals age 50 and above will represent 37% of the population (U.S.

Antecedents and Consequences of Endorsing Prescriptive Views of Active Aging and Altruistic Disengagement

“…Framing old age as a time to remain engaged and active reflects expectations related to activation and fitness, or prescriptive views of active aging, with an emphasis on individual responsibility. In terms of their potential social function, we can understand activation as serving the purpose of relieving the social security system in times of demographic aging, which helps maintaining economic sustainability of societies (McNamara et al, 2012;Lessenich, 2015). Silbereisen (2012, 2016) carried out studies on perceived expectations for active aging and reported that activation demands for older adults had indeed become more prevalent.…”

Nurse managers’ role in older nurses’ intention to stay

“…There has been a tendency for flexible work practices to be negotiated on an individual basis between a supervisor and the employee, something that is counter to union philosophy. Moreover, labour unions have traditionally opposed some of the flexible work practices such as increases in part-time employment (McNamara et al, 2012). Pitt-Catsouphes et al (2009) found the presence of unions to be negatively related to the scope of flexible work options.…”

Human Resource Approaches to Retirement: Gatekeeping, Improvising, Orchestrating, and Partnering

“…Similarly, Flynn () has described some examples of UK firms trying to change the “culture of retirement” and to take action using a “business case” approach in deciding which mature workers may be allowed to stay and continue working. This puts emphasis on the specific means that organizations may be using to move from the “pro‐retirement” stance (i.e., disincentives to work at a mature age) toward more “pro‐work” policies, for example policies encouraging mature workers to continue working beyond their traditional retirement age (e.g., McNamara, Sano, & Williamson, ; Shultz & Wang, ). As a result, these studies identify successful retention policies and practices that will enable mature workers to remain employed and engaged (e.g., Claes & Heymans, ), thus focusing on organizational policy and actions in response to changes, rather than examination of appropriateness of revised practices and their implications for organizational functioning.…”