Transcript Work, Retirement and Leisure PS277 – Lecture 14 Outline  Older Workers – Satisfaction and Adaptation  Retirement – History and Timing  Retirement as.

Work, Retirement and
Leisure
PS277 – Lecture 14
Outline
 Older Workers – Satisfaction and Adaptation
 Retirement – History and Timing
 Retirement as a Life Transition – Theory and
Satisfaction Research
 Leisure and Volunteer Activities in Retirement –
Computer Usage, Volunteering
I. What Do We Know about
Age and Worker Satisfaction?
 Data from Warr (1992),
1700 people in UK
 Job characteristics like
decision scope, working
conditions, income
matter, but age still a
factor…what else may
explain?
 Work life review may
become more positive,
overall life satisfaction
goes up, etc.
4.4
4.3
4.2
4.1
Job
Pos
4
3.9
3.8
3.7
18- 25- 35- 5024 34 49 64
SOC Model and Adaptations to Job Roles
in Workers (Abraham & Hansson, 1995)
 Selection, Optimization and Compensation
 Participants in this study were workers aged 40
– 69, both men and women. Completed
questionnaires on successful aging in the
workplace
 Measured SOC as well as goal attainment and
“maintenance of performance and abilities”
SOC Example Items on the
Job Scales
 Selection: I now try to focus my work efforts on a
narrower range of tasks.
 I now try not to waste time on less important job
responsibilities.
 Optimization: I now am more likely to participate in
training to polish rusty skills and abilities.
 I now pay more attention to keeping up my work skills
and abilities.
 Compensation: I now try to let others know about my
special skills and knowledge.
 I now try to make my accomplishments more visible to my
boss.
Age Differences in Correlations
between SOC and Goal Attainment
Scale
< Age 50
> Age 50
Selection
.06
.23**
Optimization
.19
.45**
Compensation
.02
.23**
II. What Factors Influence the
Timing of Retirement?
 Age and “expected norms”
 Health – 1 to 3 yrs earlier for those in poor health
 Having minor children
 Financial resources to support retirement
 Level of interest in work
 Spouse patterns
 Gender differences
Timing: Work Participation by Age
and Gender, 1950 to Present – US
 Older men’s participation
declined over past 60
years, particularly after
age 64
 Women’s participation
increased substantially
from 55 to age 64
(consistent with data for
younger workers)
 These patterns might
change with current
economy!
Choosing Not to Retire?
 About 15% of Canadians over 65 continue to work (2000)
 Includes two groups: those who have never retired from
their long-term occupations and those who retired and
went into something new (often part-time)
 Some people with very low benefits and skills continue
working out of necessity – might grow these days!
 More of these are highly educated professionals who
resist retirement – e.g., doctors, lawyers, university
professors, etc.
Financial Support and
Retirement Policy - History
 Old age pension legislation was introduced in Canada in
1927
 65 was chosen as age of retirement in North America
because of German chancellor’s earlier policies –
somewhat arbitrary
 Most people lived a much shorter life span in those days,
and many fewer people reached 65 and retirement at all
 Social Security and first US recipient: 1940 was date of
first cheque issued in US. First US recipient was Ida
Fuller of Vermont, who paid in $22 into the system, lived
for 35 more years and drew out $21,000!
What about Mandatory
Retirement and Policies?
 Should older university faculty be forced to retire? Is this
discriminatory?
 Supreme Court originally held that it is under Charter of
Rights, but that this is justified under some conditions,
allowed provinces to decide what to do about this
individually
 Ontario has moved to do away with mandatory retirement
quite recently (most other provinces too)
 What do you think about this at universities? What might
be some arguments for and against?
III. Historical Theories of
Retirement Satisfaction
 Crisis Theory: Loss of work leads to lower self-esteem,
identity crisis, withdrawal, illness, etc.
 Continuity Theory: Not too big a deal, most people
have opportunities for satisfaction outside of work, and
show only modest change with retirement
 Evidence in somewhere in the middle, but more positive
than negative overall – for men, investment in family roles
is a positive predictor of adjustment, for women, not so
 Clearest predictor of negative outcomes is with lack of
control over retirement, due to job loss, poor health, etc.
Retirement Satisfaction – Some Key
Factors from Harvard Growth Study
(Vaillant, 2002)
 Maintaining and replacing social networks
 Rediscovering playful activities – grandchildren!
 Creativity – much evidence that old can be creative
(Monet at 80, Franklin invented bifocals at 78, Darwin at
70) – everyday activities –gardening, building, etc.
 Lifelong learning – taking a fresh look at things,
computers, technology
Life Transitions and Patterns of
Adjustment – What Are Some Keys?
 Generally, normative changes that most go through –
e.g., transition to work, university, to parenthood
 Age patterns in timing for normative changes are
expected, so some people are “off-time,” this can affect
how the experience feels, e.g., early or late retirement
 Change is stressful, so some issues to be expected –
equilibrium is disrupted, then restabilizes
 Balances of social support and personal control
needed to negotiate most successfully
 Preparation for the transition, anticipating issues and
planning, is also important - e.g., retirement seminars
IV. Do Older Adults Disengage?:
Voluntary Association Memberships in
Later Adulthood (2000)
Historical Patterns of Decline in Voluntary
Association – Bowling Alone, Putnam
(2000)
 Rates of civic involvement
in North America have
declined over the past 50
years
 Some of this is
generational – WWII
generation has remained
higher than others - Baby
Boomers, etc., and higher
than previous generations
 Trends for the future?
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Comm
un
Clubs
Trust
0 30 50 70
Average % Annual Volunteering
Rate by Age – Canada (2004)
50
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Rate
15-34
35-54
55-64
65+
Average Annual Hours Per Volunteer
by Age Group – Canada (2004)
250
200
150
# of Hours
100
50
0
15-34
35-54
55-64
65+
Retirement Activities, Health
and Life Satisfaction
 Volunteering, especially helping others,
associated with positive health effects – lower
mortality rates for older adults linked to helping
rates in some studies (Oman et al., 1999)
 Life satisfaction is linked to greater feelings of
social support, but an important component of
this is the chance to give support to others
 Mrs. Perkett at 88