Access to bridge employment: Who finds and who does not find work after retirement?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Access to bridge employment: Who finds and who does not find work after retirement?

AU - Dingemans, E.

AU - Henkens, K.

AU - van Solinge, H.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Purpose of the Study: Empirical studies on the determinants of bridge employment have often neglected the fact that some retirees may be unsuccessful in finding a bridge job. We present an integrative framework that emphasizes socioeconomic factors, health status, social context, and psychological factors to explain why some people fully retired after career exit, some participated in bridge jobs, while others unsuccessfully searched for one. Design and Methods: Using Dutch panel data for 1,221 retirees, we estimated a multinomial logit model to explain participation in, and unsuccessful searches for, bridge employment.Results: About 1 in 4 retirees participated in bridge employment after retirement, while 7% searched unsuccessfully for such work. Particularly those who experienced involuntary career exit were found to have a higher probability of being unsuccessful at finding bridge employment. Implications: The current study provides evidence for the impact of the social context on postretirement work and suggests a cumulative disadvantage in the work domain in later life.

AB - Purpose of the Study: Empirical studies on the determinants of bridge employment have often neglected the fact that some retirees may be unsuccessful in finding a bridge job. We present an integrative framework that emphasizes socioeconomic factors, health status, social context, and psychological factors to explain why some people fully retired after career exit, some participated in bridge jobs, while others unsuccessfully searched for one. Design and Methods: Using Dutch panel data for 1,221 retirees, we estimated a multinomial logit model to explain participation in, and unsuccessful searches for, bridge employment.Results: About 1 in 4 retirees participated in bridge employment after retirement, while 7% searched unsuccessfully for such work. Particularly those who experienced involuntary career exit were found to have a higher probability of being unsuccessful at finding bridge employment. Implications: The current study provides evidence for the impact of the social context on postretirement work and suggests a cumulative disadvantage in the work domain in later life.

KW - bridge employment

KW - involuntary retirement

KW - life course perspective

KW - social stratification

KW - SSCI

KW - editor's choice

U2 - 10.1093/geront/gnu182

DO - 10.1093/geront/gnu182

M3 - Article

SN - 0016-9013

VL - 56

SP - 630

EP - 640

JO - The Gerontologist

JF - The Gerontologist

IS - 4

ER -