Trends and correlates of post-retirement employment, 1977–2009. (January 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Pleau, Robin; Shauman, Kimberlee
• Other Names: Lee Mary Dean guest-editor.; Sargent Leisa D guest-editor.; Martin Bill guest-editor.; Zikic Jelena guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Human relations. Volume 66:Number 1(2013)
• Page Start: 113
• Page End: 141
• Publication Date: 2013-01
• Subjects: retirement -- post-retirement employment -- older workers -- aging and work -- gender and employment -- sociology -- demography; Social sciences -- Periodicals; 302
• DOI: 10.1177/0018726712447003
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0018-7267

Abstract

The stereotypical retirement experience – the abrupt ceasing of all paid work and commencement of a life of leisure – is the experience of only half of all workers. Yet, despite the prevalence of combining work and retirement in the US and the implications this work-retirement behavior may have for organizations and individual workers, post-retirement employment behavior is understudied. In this article, we add to the growing literature on retirement and late-life employment processes by examining the trends and correlates of post-retirement employment in the US from 1977 to 2009. We find a modest curvilinear trend in post-retirement employment for both males and females over the last 33 years. However, the modest upward trends in post-retirement employment obscure the countervailing influences of significant changes in behavior and in the macro-level demographic and economic forces that are significant determinants of post-retirement employment.