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The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is a U.S.-based job-training program that serves unemployed workers aged 55 and older with incomes at or below 125% of the federal poverty level. While federal funds are set aside to serve Asian workers in SCSEP, little is known about their characteristics and experiences. In response, this pilot study aimed to document the health, well-being, and experiences of older Asian SCSEP participants in Massachusetts through the completion of a survey. Respondents (N = 39) ranged in age from 58 to 73 and identified as either Chinese (72%) or Vietnamese (28%). All were immigrants, and almost all spoke a language other than English at home. Most reported "good" health as well as financial difficulties. They also stated that their supervisors in their placements were supportive. On average, respondents noted moderate interest in searching for a paid job after exiting SCSEP, although more reported interest in searching for a volunteer role. Key to the success of this study was a robust collaboration with a local human services organization with strong ties to the Chinese and Vietnamese communities. The findings highlight the importance of this growing group of older workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adult education may keep older workers productive if they voluntarily engage in learning. Examining a generous partial retirement reform in Germany that encouraged early retirement among male workers, we estimate voluntary adult education activities for early retirees. Using county-level administrative data on all public adult education centers (Volkshochschulen; VHS), we employ a difference-in-differences approach exploiting the predetermined county-specific age structure of men for identification. The results show a strong increase in participation in adult education, specifically in cognitively demanding courses. This supports an intrinsic willingness of older workers to acquire skills and abilities independent of financial incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successfully adjusting to retirement, in terms of achieving psychological comfort with one's retirement life, represents a major challenge for older workers. Although current literature emphasizes that it may depend on the availability and fluctuation of specific resources, little is known about which types and how resources allow recent retirees to adjust to retirement. Drawing on the resource‐based dynamic model for retirement adjustment and conservation of resources theory, the current study aims to elaborate theory on resources' types, relative importance and combinations in caravans, and the processes through which they shape successful retirement adjustment. In a consensual qualitative research using abductive reasoning with recent retirees aged 66–69, we find four major resource types. We show that their importance varies (from the most important to the least: social interactions, life conditions, time management and individuality) and that they travel in caravans within a resource type. We further propose a model highlighting how these resources shape successful retirement adjustment through resources signal, conservation and acquisition processes. Overall, our findings offer theoretical and empirical contributions to the resource perspective on retirement adjustment and to conservation of resources theory's understanding of resources' categorization, processes and caravans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This commentary focuses on the remunerated work dimension of productive aging in Mexico, specifically paid employment. The main purpose is to draw attention to productive aging policies and programs built on alliances between the Mexican government and private companies – e.g., Starbucks – and then to analyze the potential impacts of such alliances on the older population. We argue that although the Mexican government emphasizes the rights of older adults to engage in paid-employment programs through such alliances, it is not addressing the issues that underlie paid-employment activities in later life, such as conditions of inequality, lack of opportunities, and poverty. We also argue that the instrumentation of productive aging programs implemented by the government should consider the costs and benefits for older adults. Solid, research-based evidence is needed to better implement productive aging programs by accounting for the factors that influence older adults' decisions to continue working, the functional capacities of older workers, and their performance needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neighborhood environments have been positively associated with older adults' engagement outcomes. As mid- and late-life work participation gains traction, the scope of productive engagement in later life expands concomitantly. However, current age-friendly neighborhood paradigms remain largely retirement-centric, with minimal applicability for older adults with work aspirations. Therefore, the objective of this research was to examine whether neighborhood land use had significant impact on older adults' work participation and well-being while working. Neighborhood variables were measured at the postal code level and statistically analyzed in relation to work participation and quality of life (QOL) scores for 850 older adults in Singapore. Significant variables were evaluated again for 28 planning areas, and statistically analyzed in relation to workforce participation rates. The findings suggest that neighborhood spatial attributes are significant for mid- and late-life work participation: Strategic provision of amenities was associated with individual work participation and well-being, while density and distribution of specific land-use types were associated with workforce participation rates. The article concludes with a discussion on the gaps in planning approaches for work-supportive and age-friendly neighborhood paradigms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study examined the causal role of time horizons in age differences in worker motivation. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory (SST), we hypothesized that under unspecified time horizons, older workers prefer to engage in emotionally meaningful work activities more so than younger workers. We further hypothesized that when time horizons at work are expanded or limited, age differences are eliminated. We recruited a sample of employees (N = 555) and randomly assigned them to one of three experimental conditions: a no-instruction condition in which time horizons were not specified, an expanded time horizons condition, or a limited horizons condition. We asked participants to choose from among three options for work-related activities: Helping a colleague or a friend, working on a career-advancing project, or working on a project which may take the company in a new direction. Consistent with SST postulates, we found that age was associated with preferences for helping colleagues in the unspecified horizons condition, and that age differences were eliminated when time horizons were extended or limited. As hypothesized, expanding time horizons reduced employees' likelihood of choosing to help colleagues. Contrary to our hypothesis, limiting time horizons also reduced the likelihood of choosing to help colleagues. Alternative explanations are considered. Findings suggest that age differences in worker motivation are shaped by time horizons and that modification of time horizons can alter work preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most rapidly ageing industrialised countries, ageing problems have become an important social issue. In Japan, owing to the rapidly ageing population, the government has been intervening in both the demand side and supply side of labour to increase employment of older adults. This study examines labour supply responses to the increasing pension eligibility age and labour demand responses to company expansion and the abolition of the employee selection mechanism. This study is based on Japanese longitudinal survey data (Keio Household Panel Survey) from 2008 to 2018. Since employment law revisions and social security revisions are inextricably linked, one way to examine the effect of revisions to both simultaneously is to investigate them by cohort. The difference-in-difference model was used to compare revision-affected cohorts born between April 1953 and January 1956 and unaffected cohorts born between April 1949 and March 1953. It was found that the revisions had almost no impact on the employment of older adults and their receipt of pensions. However, they did have significant positive effects on job transfers and resignations. Hence, although the system was modified, it also gave companies the option of placing older adults in associated companies and of retaining some routes for older adults to retire, much as before the revisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has often been stated by older people's advocates that discrimination affecting older people is commonplace and ongoing in the Australian labour market. In this article, we contrast such rhetoric with a review of evidence from recent large-scale surveys which demonstrates that low and declining numbers of Australians experience age discrimination, while highlighting the complexity of the phenomenon. We identify the emergence of a fake 'age' advocacy that is acting to the detriment of an informed public discourse concerning issues of older workers' employment. To counter this we propose five underlying principles for advocacy on ageing and work: countering myths concerning the extent and nature of age barriers in the labour market; avoiding and challenging the use of age stereotypes in making the business case for older workers' employment; recognition that age interacts in complex ways with a range of other factors in determining people's experiences of the labour market; challenging public understanding that is grounded in the notion that generational conflict is inevitable; and discarding traditional notions of the lifecourse in order to overcome disjunctions and contradictions that hamper efforts to encourage and support longer working lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two important and current trends in the domain of work are the aging workforce and the high and increasing requirement for work-related learning due to the rate of technological advancement and innovation. Together, they create a precarious situation, as many theories suggest a decline in motivation to learn as people age. This study investigates antecedents of motivation and intention to learn in older employees in the financial sector. Specifically, we research how learning motivation is affected by personal and job resources and how these translate into intentions to learn. Data was collected via a quantitative survey of 870 employees aged 50 or older. The data is analyzed by the means of structural equation modelling (SEM). The results show positive relationships between proactive personality and motivation (subjective task value and learning self-efficacy) and negative relationships between institutionalized negative age stereotypes and motivation. This, in turn, affects older employees' intention to learn. Finally, in contrast to supervisor support, organizational support for professional development raised utility value in the respondents. The findings suggest that organizations might want to recruit employees who are high in pro-active personality. Also, trainings may be fruitful to educate against the negative stereotypes that often associate old age with an inability to learn. Finally, supervisors and trainers should explain the utility and interest of the learning activities since it makes employees motivated to learn. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effects of phased retirement on vitality and how this effect differs for workers dealing with work, family and health strain and low levels of baseline vitality. We used two waves of the NIDI Pension Panel Survey, conducted in 2015 and 2018, in the Netherlands. Data from 1,247 older workers, of whom 10% opted for phased retirement, were analyzed. Vitality is assessed in three ways: a composite measure of vitality, and its subcomponents energy and fatigue. Conditional change regression models demonstrated that transitioning into phased retirement improved vitality and energy levels and reduced fatigue. Older workers with low energy levels at baseline showed greater improvements in energy after using phased retirement: this result was not evident for those with low vitality and high fatigue at baseline. Phased retirement improved vitality for workers with high work strain. Vitality for workers with family or health strain was not improved. Interestingly, the positive effects of phased retirement were equally visible among workers with and without adverse health conditions and caregiving responsibilities. Our study provides evidence on the benefits of phased retirement as a method to sustainably ensure healthy aging of not only vulnerable but all older workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increasing workforce participation at higher ages may impact social insurance systems, however, this has hardly been studied at all. We studied associations between sociodemographic factors and prior sickness absence and disability pension, with having paid work and sickness absence after age 65, and if such associations changed over time. We used longitudinal register data regarding three cohorts of all residents in Sweden who turned 65 in 2000, 2005, or 2010 (N = 50,000, 68,000, and 99,000, respectively). Although employment rates when aged 66–71 increased between the cohorts, associations of sociodemographic factors with paid work and sickness absence, when aged 66–71 did not. Both sickness absence and disability pension when aged 60–64 were negatively associated with working past 65. Sickness absence when aged 60–64 was positively associated and disability pension was negatively associated with sickness absence after 65. Possibilities to remain in paid work with different health conditions need to be strengthened to avoid inequalities when raising the retirement age. Paid work increased from 2000 to 2010, sickness absence increased marginally Associations of sociodemographic factors with paid work did not change over time Prior sickness absence and disability pension correlate with paid work after age 65 Sickness absence before age 65 correlates with sickness absence after 65 Disability pension before age 65 correlates with less sickness absence after 65 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of the "older worker" is frequently used in the organizational literature, in organizational practice, and in society, but so far, no research has investigated why people consider someone to be an older worker at a certain age. In the qualitative part of this study, we examined potential reasons for considering workers to be "older" at a certain age. In the quantitative part of this study, we investigated demographic characteristics (i.e., age, sex, education), job characteristics (i.e., job level, typical age in a job), and beliefs (i.e., perceived remaining time at work, motivation to continue working after retirement, positive and negative age stereotypes) as predictors of people's conceptions of "older worker age"." Data were provided by 269 employees from various jobs and organizations. The mean age at which participants considered someone to be an "older worker" was approximately 55 years. The most frequently stated reasons for considering workers to be "older" at a certain age were retirement age and age-related decline. Results of a regression analysis showed that participants' age, sex, and perceived remaining time predicted "older worker age". These findings provide first insights into the psychological construction of the "older worker". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The federal Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) provides on-the-job training to people 55 years and older with incomes at or below 125% of the federal poverty level with multiple barriers to employment. This study examined the processes by which SCSEP may influence participant financial, physical, and mental well-being. We engaged 15 SCSEP participants and case managers over four virtual and one telephone session using a participatory research method called community-based system dynamics. Activities included identifying key problem trends, variable elicitation, developing a causal map, and identifying changes to the system to increase participant well-being. Respondents identified how individual, organizational, and program and policy factors relate to participant well-being (e.g., SCSEP participation reduces social isolation, which increases desire to participate) and suggested program and policy recommendations to strengthen SCSEP (e.g., benchmarks of success should include health and well-being outcomes). These findings highlight the benefits and potential of this long-running program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses occupational data from the Health and Retirement Study to document the link between disability onset and occupational transitions among older adults who are working and do not report a disabling condition at age 55. We find that one-quarter of workers go on to experience new disabilities before full-retirement age. Relative to their peers who do not report disabilities, stopping work and significant occupational changes are more common among workers who experience new disabilities. Our results suggest that policies to support labor force attachment might consider the importance of new disability onset and whether employer accommodations might help workers with new disabling conditions remain in the jobs they held when their health began to limit their work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observed increases in retirement age are generally attributed to policies to extend working lives (PEW). In a quasi-experimental design, we examine to what extent increases in employment of older workers can be attributed to secular changes in individual characteristics as opposed to PEW. We compare two countries: one with clear PEW (the Netherlands) and one without PEW (Norway). Data come from the Dutch Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam and the NORwegian Longitudinal study on Aging and Generations. From each study, two same-age (55–64 years) samples are selected, one recruited in 2002–03, and one recruited after five (Norway) and ten years (Netherlands). In pooled regression analysis, paid work is the outcome variable, and time of measurement, the main independent variable. Individual characteristics include age, sex, educational level, self-perceived health, functional limitations, sense of mastery, and work status of partner. Employment rose in both countries, faster in the Netherlands than in Norway. Of the rise in employment, individual characteristics explained less in the Netherlands than in Norway. Accounting for these, the interaction country*time was significant, indicating an extra rise in employment of 5.2 and 7.5% points for Dutch men and women, net of individual characteristics and unobserved factors that are assumed to be similar in both countries. The extra rise in the Netherlands represents 57% of the total rise for both sexes. Thus, secular change in individual characteristics explains part of the rise in employment in both countries. In the Netherlands, other factors such as PEW may additionally explain the rise in employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Beyond the obvious positive effect on employees, job satisfaction is also critical for organizations. Job satisfaction affects workers’ turnover intents, while also predicting employees’ commitment to their workplace and their performances. Thus, not surprisingly, most organizations strive for employee satisfaction. The goal of the study is to examine which job characteristics and workplace practices affect the job satisfaction of employees, and particularly that of older ones (55+), and, in turn, enhance their will to work and may encourage them to work longer. Our analysis of the Social Survey for 2016 from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics focused on job conditions and revealed that income satisfaction, additional benefits, a sense of belonging and work-life balance enhance job satisfaction and the desire to work longer, particularly among older workers. Among younger workers, a higher significance was found for professional training and skills. Implications for organizations and policymakers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, interest in investigating the sustainable employability (SE) of older workers has gained ground, generating a significant number of theoretical and empirical contributions. However, the construct of SE lacks a definition accepted by the scientific community and unified measurement criteria, which has led to results that, so far, do not allow us to draw solid conclusions on its relevance. The aim of this integrative review is twofold. Firstly, we review the theoretical formulations and definitions proposed, as well as the main empirical results of the studies and interventions on SE. Our review includes 31 studies (26 empirical and five theoretical; total sample size N = 33,368). Secondly, proposals and suggestions are offered aimed at integrating the previous results and advancing in the definition, operationalization, and measurement of SE, with the ultimate goal of increasing its value for future research in the mid-and late-career domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the narratives of 24 knowledge workers aged 48–58 as they anticipate their future employment and employability. The term knowledge worker is used to indicate occupational roles such as software engineer, academic, architect, manager and lawyer, where work involves non-routine problem-solving using 'intellectual assets'. Four narrative patterns about future employment are presented: winding down, reorienting 'self' away from work, seeking progression and renewal. These patterns reveal contrasting self-evaluations of employability and potential. We argue that employability is not a straightforward function of human capital, which usually refers to experience, knowledge and qualifications. We show through our data how judgements about a person's employability – both self-evaluations as well as evaluations by others – are complicated by social norms and cultural understandings of 'potential'. Strategies to signal one's potential become more complex and sometimes less effective for older knowledge workers. We contend that a person's age influences others' evaluations of their employment potential, such that the relationship between attributed merit (based largely on past experience) and attributed potential (based on assumptions about a person's future) is inverted as workers become older. The findings have implications for public policies such as 'Extending Working Lives'. Policies that remove legal and institutional barriers to extended working lives may be only partially successful without changes to cultural attitudes about older workers' employment potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Work, rather than unemployment, is recognised as being good for health, but there may be an age when the benefits are outweighed by adverse impacts. As countries around the world increase their typical retirement age, the potential effect on population health and health inequalities requires scrutiny.Methods: We carried out a systematic review of literature published since 2011 from developed countries on the health effects of employment in those over 64 years of age. We completed a narrative synthesis and used harvest plots to map the direction and volume of evidence for the outcomes reported. We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) checklist in our methods and reporting.Results: We identified seventeen relevant studies, which were of cohort or cross-sectional design. The results indicate evidence of beneficial or neutral effects from extended working on overall health status and physical health for many employees, and mixed effects on mental health. The benefits reported however, are most likely to be for males, those working part-time or reducing to part-time, and employees in jobs which are not low quality or low reward.Conclusions: Extending working life (particularly part time) may have benefits or a neutral effect for some, but adverse effects for others in high demand or low reward jobs. There is the potential for widening health inequalities between those who can choose to reduce their working hours, and those who need to continue working full time for financial reasons. There is a lack of evidence for effects on quality of life, and a dearth of interventions enabling older workers to extend their healthy working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-country estimation work consistently finds that coefficients on statutory pension ages are positive and highly statistically significant in explaining labour force participation at older ages. However, the estimated effects are surprisingly modest when translated into the implied effect on the average effective age of retirement, which typically only increases by about 2 months for every year by which the statutory retirement age increases. This paper shows that grouping countries with similar pension systems, allowing for time heterogeneity and introducing other modelling choices, can improve the estimates of the effect of changes to the pension system. In countries in which there are alternative early retirement pathways or voluntary private pension systems, the effect of changes in statutory retirement ages tends to be dampened. However, for other countries, the effect of changes in statutory pension ages can be around two to three times larger than the typical finding from pooled country estimations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We used the last three waves of the European Quality of Life Surveys to analyze the happiness of older workers in Romania and the Visegrád countries. Applying ordinary least squares and ordered logit models we showed that being employed makes people happier ceteris paribus than being unemployed. This effect is the same for younger and older persons in the V4 countries, but there is an extra positive effect for older workers in Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study compared employers' perceptions and knowledge about older workers to official data, as well as employers' views of the ideal situation regarding older workers, to assess potential gaps. A questionnaire answered by a sample of 373 employers was used to examine possible gaps between employers' perceptions, views, and official statistical data regarding older workers. Statistical significance (T-Test) analyses suggested that gaps do exist, in issues like labor force participation rate, health status, and women's retirement age, which may explain obstacles faced by older workers. Logistic regression models revealed the effect of personal and organizational characteristics on employers' preferences regarding the ideal labor force participation rate of older workers, and the ideal retirement age according to their preference. Educational measures and policies aimed at increasing employers' awareness to the official data regarding the aging workforce should be tailored to specific organizations, sectors, and employers' characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Longitudinal perspectives on how organizations react to workforce aging are missing in the literature. In this study, we fill this gap and ask how organizations deal with older workers, how their approaches change over time, and in which sectors of the economy and types of organizations the changes were most profound. Research Design and Methods Data come from two large-scale employer surveys: 2009 (n = 1,077) and 2017 (n = 1,358), representative for the Netherlands. We use a three-step group-comparison latent class analysis combined with a multinomial logistic model. Results We found four clusters of organizations based on their practices regarding older workers—those trying to activate and develop their employees (active), focusing solely on exit measures (exit), implementing a combination of development, accommodating and exit measures (all), and practicing no age management (none). We find a major shift in employers' approaches to aging workforces between 2009 and 2017, with strong decreases in those that offered no age management (47%–30%) and those focusing on exit measures (21%–6%), and an increase in active organizations (19%–52%). Active age management is no longer concentrated in large and developing organizations, but has become a standard human resources tool economy-wide. Discussion and Implications Overall, there is a long-term trend away from exit measures toward the application of proactive age management measures. More involvement of employers in retaining older adults in the workplace may signal a growing awareness of the changing demographic reality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has long been the goal of many gerontological social work scholars to increase the ability and opportunity for people to be engaged in paid and unpaid work throughout the life course. Yet the COVID-19 pandemic is revealing and exacerbating the financial insecurity of many older adults. In this paper, we review information related to older workers and how they might be affected by this pandemic and its aftermath, paying particular attention to the most socioeconomically and physically vulnerable older workers. We also offer first-hand experiences from our careers working with and conducting scholarship on older workers, paying particular attention to recent actions by many in the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) network to provide paid sick leave to its low-income, older adult participants. We conclude with implications for social work scholarship and teaching, noting the uptick in technology use among older adults and the disparities that remain, as well as teaching that integrates discussions on the lifelong and cumulative effects of inequalities and marginalization and the need for additional researcher, student, and community collaborations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Measuring the extent to which the culture of organizations can be considered age-friendly is a significant anchor in the constructive inclusion process of older workers in workplaces, given the consistent aging of the workforce. Hence, the purpose of this research was to develop a novel, comprehensive, and theoretically driven measure of workplace age-friendliness. Research Design and Methods Three multiphased, multisourced studies were conducted: a qualitative assessment procedure and 2 separate quantitative field surveys of individual-level perceptions. Results A 24-item scale of workplace age-friendliness was developed, consisting of 4 dimensions that represent the different ways in which organizational culture aligns with an aging and older workforce: age-friendly core culture, development, wellness, and flexibility. Confirmatory factor analysis verified that a 4-factor structure is the most appropriate solution, with all dimensions having acceptable internal consistency. Preliminary evidence of construct validity is also presented. Discussion and Implications The measure developed in this study may serve researchers as well as practitioners in the field of aging and work. Further implications and limitations of using this instrument in future empirical study on workplace age-friendliness are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Much of the large literature on precarious work has largely tended to assume that precarity is shaped by job quality: that precarious work leads to precarious lives. This paper adds to the literature by questioning this line of causality and highlighting the broader range of influences shaping the lives of older workers who enter precarious work after retrenchment from secure, long-term careers. Drawing on a study of Australia's automotive manufacturing industry, which closed in 2017, this article finds that for older retrenched workers, exposure to precarious employment sharpened life precarity for some but did not lead to precarious lives for others. Instead of a uniform transition from security to precarity, these workers' life trajectories diverged depending on their household-scale financial security. Key issues influencing the likelihood of older workers' lives becoming precarious were enterprise benefits and asset wealth accumulated through their previous careers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An important anti-poverty program for older Americans is facing a serious problem: The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) was deemed "ineffective" by the Department of Labor. The department's 2020 budget, in fact, proposes the program's elimination. SCSEP, which places low-income adults aged 55 and older with multiple barriers to work in on-the-job training in nonprofit and public agencies while providing a modest stipend, has the goal of helping participants to transition into unsubsidized, gainful employment. Yet measures used to determine the program's effectiveness focus solely on employment outcomes, ignoring important outcomes related to health and social engagement. This commentary advocates for the preservation of SCSEP by countering the view that it is purely an employment intervention for low-income older adults. We describe the complexity of the program and the people it serves and argue that using select measures that do not encompass the breadth of SCSEP's benefits creates an inaccurate appearance of ineffectiveness. We conclude with recommendations for SCSEP administrators and grantees, social workers, and others to enhance the promise of this important program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We employed cumulative dis/advantage and ecological theories to identify risk and protective factors at the individual, family, institutional, and societal levels that promote employment and health among low-income older adults. The authors conducted semi-structured interviews with 26 older adults who participated in a federally funded training and employment program for low-income individuals 55+ years of age. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Approximately 60% of participants had experienced a lifetime of disadvantages (e.g. low levels of formal education, poor physical and mental health, enduring poverty, physically demanding jobs). Surprisingly, 40% of respondents had higher levels of education, excellent or good health, consistent lifetime employment, and personal drive to obtain employment, but had experienced a major health, economic, or social shock that resulted in unemployment, poverty and at times, homelessness. Their life stories, as well as the extant literature, enabled us to understand the many risk and protective factors across the ecological framework associated with employment and improved health. A holistic, strengths-based approach, which utilizes the full scope of biopsychosocial and service assessments is required to bolster employment and health of low-income older adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changing nature of work is having a profound impact on the human experience, particularly among older workers. Two integrative theoretical and empirical frameworks of adult development over the past 3 decades provide new insights into aging and work in the 21st century. The first framework focuses on adult intellect and the second on work motivation. We provide a brief review of these frameworks, discuss the implications for reconsidering adult work lives in the context of interindividual differences, intraindividual change, and external forces, and argue for greater attention to individual differences in knowledge, skills, and motivation. Six broad themes, arising from the convergence of theory, research findings, and emerging patterns of work, are proposed as guides for forging new directions on the intellectual and motivational aspects of adult development in the world of 21st century work. Public Significance Statement: The simultaneous aging of the workforce and the changing nature of work have powerful consequences for the nation's economic well-being, public policy, and individuals. This article discusses the implications of these trends for the development of new tools, training methods, and organizational practices to promote job/career transitions and successful aging at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In times of demographic change, psychotherapists tend to stay longer in their jobs. Against the background of two contradictory age stereotypes (wise/generous versus senile/outdated old person), this analogue study investigates young adults' preference for old over young psychotherapists, depending on presenting problem. In a within-subjects design, therapy-motivated young female participants (N = 79) received two kinds of hypothetical presenting problems, 'universal problems' (addressing fundamental questions of life virulent across the adult life span) and 'young problems' (life events that are developmentally close to and specific for young adulthood in today's world). For each presenting problem, participants were presented with two naturalistic photographs of an old (55 + years) and a young (< 35 years) female psychotherapist; in a two-alternative forced choice decision task, participants were then asked to decide whom of the two psychotherapists they would prefer. Participants had neither an overall preference for old nor for young psychotherapists. As expected, we found a preference for old psychotherapists in case of 'universal problems' (friend's death, natural disaster, quarreling with one's past). In turn, a preference for young psychotherapists was observed in case of 'young problems' (cyberbullying, paternalizing parents, lovesickness). Effect size was medium-to-large. Organizations that provide services to younger people may want to inquire about a patient's preference about age of a therapist prior to treatment. As catering to patient's preferences for therapy has been shown to lead to better engagement and therapy outcomes, health care providers should try to meet the patient's needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socio-economic circumstances influence later-life employment participation, which may take different forms as retirement processes are complex. We aimed to explore the diverse effects of various socio-economic sub-domains on pre- and post-retirement employment. We used Finnish register data to examine socio-economic predictors of time to retirement (i.e. receiving the statutory pension) using Cox regression analysis and on time spent in post-retirement employment using repeated negative binomial regression analysis over a follow-up between the ages of 63 and 68, i.e. the flexible pension age range. An average wage earner still employed at age 62 spent 13.5 months in pre-retirement employment (this corresponds to time to retirement) and 4.8 months in post-retirement employment. Those with tertiary education retired later, but the educational differences in the total time spent in employment were small when post-retirement employment was also considered. There was little variation in the timing of retirement by household income, but those in the highest quintile spent the longest time in post-retirement employment. Upper non-manual employees, home renters and those with high household debt retired later, and those with high household debt also spent a longer time in post-retirement employment. In a national flexible pension age system, high occupational class and household income thus appear to encourage either later retirement or participation in post-retirement employment. However, economic constraints also appear to necessitate continued employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Creating age-friendly workplace environments is considered a central organizational approach for addressing the challenges of supporting an aging and older workforce. However, there are no concrete definitions or theoretical frameworks that explain the full meaning, assumptions, and basic processes of this concept. This article critically reviews the conceptualizations of the age-friendly workplace in the fields of organizational psychology and gerontology, and proposes (a) a new working definition of the concept, and (b) a multidimensional model that consists of a typology of age-friendly dimensions, representing the implications of human resource policies and practices that demonstrate the ways in which organizational climate and organizational culture support aging workers. This framework enables a better understanding of the organizational-occupational realities within an aging and older labor market, and thus serves as an effective foundation upon which future organizational measurements can be constructed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article investigates the association between youth and older workers' employment participation in the United Kingdom using yearly data provided by the Labor Force Survey. Presenting a short state of the art, the paper shows that, with few exceptions, empirical analyses usually assume that increasing the labor market participation of the older workers does not affect negatively youth employment. Nevertheless, testing several variables and three different statistical models, the empirical part of the article nuances this evidence. The association between youth employment participation and older workers' employment participation tends to be significantly after controlling for public policy outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the subjective employment perspective in higher working age for different employee groups with migrant background (EMB) and without (non‐EMB), meaning willing, being able, and planning to work until the individual state pension age (iSPA). Methods: A representative sample of socially insured employees born in 1959 or 1965 was surveyed in 2011, 2014, and 2018 with computer‐assisted personal interviews. The current cross‐sectional analysis is based on data from the third study wave (n = 3286) of the lidA cohort study. EMB were differentiated via generation (first generation, G1, vs second generation, G2) or nationality (German vs foreign). Applying bivariate statistics with the tests of independence and block‐wise logistic regressions, group differences were investigated. Sex, age, educational level, net household income, health, and work factors were considered as covariates. Results: When comparing subgroups of EMB, significant differences appeared in bivariate analyses for willing and planning to work. G1 were to a higher degree planning to work longer than G2 and those with foreign nationality were more willing and planning than those with German nationality. Multivariate analyses revealed significant differences of G1 and non‐EMB for planning, being significant in the fully adjusted model, but not for willing. Conclusion: The findings underline the need for differentiation of migrant groups in social research and policy. When it comes to extended working lives, the first‐generation migrant group, as well as foreigners may constitute risk groups and require increased attention from a work, health, and economic point of view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to explore older workers' motivation for a full or extended working life. With particular focus on assistant nurses aged 55–64 years, working in the elderly care sector. Focus group interviews were conducted with five different groups of assistant nurses. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the interviews and five main themes were developed from the data: 'Organisational issues', 'Health-related problems', 'Private issues', 'Meaningfulness and appreciation' and 'Social support'. Several of the main themes concerned problems with too high work demands of the assistant nurses. These findings suggest that it is important to improve the working conditions of assistant nurses in order to create a more sustainable working life. Increasing the number of staff and improving recovery opportunities and work–life balance could be important steps to improving the working conditions for this group. Finally, upgrading the competency and professionalism of assistant nurses could help to increase the motivation for a full or extended working life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many governments are seeking to encourage the extension of working lives to counteract potential labor market shortages that might result from population aging. Nevertheless, research shows that older workers continue to face a range of barriers to their labor market participation. However, this research has not tended to take a holistic view of the factors shaping employer policy and practice or acknowledge that older workers' experiences are embedded within broader social structures and age dynamics. This article reports on exploratory qualitative research undertaken in Hong Kong. It demonstrates how employer policy and practice toward older workers are shaped by intergenerational dynamics and by the social responsibility that employers feel toward different generations. It is argued that in order to more fully understand employer policy and practice toward older workers, an approach that acknowledges the social context and position of different age groups is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines associations between early and mid-lifecourse events with economic activity in later life. These lifecourse trajectories are in turn examined for their impact on the pathways of men and women to retirement, including whether these pathways are perceived by individuals as been chosen or imposed. Data are from the three waves (2005, 2008 and 2011) of the French version of the Gender and Generations survey and comprise a sub-sample of 2,016 respondents in the birth cohort 1941–1960 who participated in all three waves. The analysis is undertaken within a gender perspective and in the context of the (de)standardisation of the lifecourse. The results show that mid-life and later-life work history, job category, employment sector and economic activity are influenced by early lifecourse events for both men and for women. Different pathways to retirement are observed according to institutional factors that determine access to pension rights. Women whose family formation occurred early, together with women who had an absence of family events (partnership or childlessness), were much more likely to be economically active in later life than men with the same characteristics. The results suggest that institutionalised (standardised) lifecourse patterns exist simultaneously with individualised (destandardised) patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Policy makers have enacted policies that incentivize extending older adults' work lives. This creates tension between age-related physical health challenges and incentives to work longer, especially for people with less financial security. While anti-discrimination laws can mitigate this tension by providing accommodations for disabled workers, current age discrimination laws do not require that option for older workers; federal age discrimination law has evolved in the opposite direction. To achieve more successful policies to increase labor supply and improve older workers' welfare, policy makers should strengthen age discrimination laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A supportive psychosocial work environment (PWE) is critical to worker well-being and labor force attachment at older ages. Using data from the Health and Retirement Study, linked to workplace ratings from the Occupational Information Network (0*NET), this article explores factors associated with workers' perception of their PWE. Deviations in workers' PWE perceptions relative to corresponding 0*NET ratings are driven not by worker characteristics, but by workplace practices that better policy could amend. Findings support the important role workplace policies play in promoting health and longer working lives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experience usually makes workers more productive, in turn raising their wages and earnings. This relationship benefits older workers because they tend to have more experience. However, the relationship between earnings and experience is weakening. Between 1992 and 2015, the impact of an additional year of experience on the hourly wage for full-time wage and salary workers ages 50 to 69 fell from 1.1 percent to 0.6 percent, a 45 percent decline. This decline could significantly harm older workers, reducing earnings and making it difficult to save for retirement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In one of the best labor markets in decades, millions of older Americans work in precarious or part-time jobs with low wages and no benefits, or cannot find employment. Many older workers have limited savings or pensions and must work to supplement Social Security payments. Findings from a Rutgers University-Heldrich Center for Workforce Development survey of voluntary and involuntary part-time older workers and a survey of older, long-term unemployed individuals in the Center's Start Career Network program reveal policies that would help older workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Older workers need a good fallback position as leverage for a better job offer. As retirement income erodes, older workers lose bargaining power. A universal pension plan, like proposed Guaranteed Retirement Accounts, is a policy that strengthens the fallback position of older workers and improves older adults' jobs. An Older Workers Bureau at the U.S. Department of Labor should be established to investigate older workers' working conditions, to formulate standards and policies to promote the welfare of wage-earning older people, and to advance their opportunities for profitable and decent employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many older people need to work longer for a secure retirement. While the average retirement age is increasing, these gains have gone disproportionately to the college-educated for two reasons. First, workers with less education have seen fewer gains in health and life expectancy, and have been less affected by changes in jobs and retirement plans. Second, employers might avoid these workers because they tend to be minorities and to have high healthcare costs. Overall, the outlook is bleak for these workers, but expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit could help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most workers filling new jobs in the next decade will be older than age 55. Improving their pay is the most effective way to encourage work and to not lower their income. Cutting social insurance benefits to incent elders to work longer can force many of them to job-search in a hostile market. Also, the collateral damages of disability and morbidity, which could be caused by older people working to age 70, must be acknowledged. Work is good, and many Americans like it, but working in a job with the benefit of a secure pension is obviously preferable to taking a job offering decreased benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing research calls for a focus on the mechanisms that can explain effects of ageing beyond the purely chronologic marker of age. To address this issue, the present study focuses on subjective age as a holistic construct that is related to various developmental and motivational processes and allows deeper insights into the interindividual variability of the ageing experience in older workers. Specifically, the current study examines on a sample of N = 485 late career employees (mean age 54 years), if subjective age is related to job crafting behaviours of older workers and whether job crafting is related to higher levels of work meaningfulness in late career. Results indicate that subjective age is significantly negatively related to job crafting behaviour over and above the effect of chronological age, self-rated health and workplace autonomy. Job crafting, in turn, significantly predicted work meaningfulness, above the effect of workplace autonomy. In sum, our study provides evidence for the utility of psychological representations of ageing to understand job crafting at work for an increasingly important segment of the working population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The engagement and retention of older workers is a major concern for organisations and has been an increasing focus for human resource scholars internationally. Drawing on social exchange theory (SET), the purpose of this paper is to examine the conditions under which retention and engagement of older workers could be enhanced, together with the potential for perceptions of age discrimination to negatively influence these outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: The study surveyed a large sample of New Zealand workers aged 55 years and over from across 28 New Zealand organisations of varying size and from a wide range of industrial sectors. A moderated-mediation model was proposed to examine the relationship between perceived organisational support (POS) and intention to leave, the mediating effect of job engagement in this relationship, and the moderating influence of perceived age discrimination on this mediation. Findings: While POS was negatively related to workers' intention to quit, job engagement partially mediated this relationship. Age discrimination moderated this mediation. As perceived age discrimination increased, the mediation of job engagement was weakened as POS had less influence on the job engagement of older workers. Research limitations/implications: Implications for human resource management practice include the importance of providing organisational support for older workers along with protections from age bias and discrimination. Originality/value: The study is one of the first to apply SET to the context of older workers, and has extended the SET literature through its examination of the role of employee engagement as a mediator of this relationship, and how perceived age discrimination, as a negative aspect of the work environment, can negatively impact these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective This study addresses older employees' trajectories of perceived workplace age discrimination, and the long-term associations among perceived age discrimination and older workers' mental and self-rated health, job satisfaction, and likelihood of working past retirement age. We evaluate the strength and vulnerability integration (SAVI) model. Method Three waves of data from employed participants were drawn from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 3,957). Latent growth modeling was used to assess relationships between the slopes and the intercepts of the variables, thereby assessing longitudinal and cross-sectional associations. Results Perceived workplace age discrimination tends to increase with age, although notable variance exists. The initial status of perceived age discrimination relates to the baseline statuses of depression, self-rated health, job satisfaction, and likelihood of working past retirement age in the expected directions. Over time, perceived age discrimination predicts lower job satisfaction and self-rated health, as well as elevated depressive symptoms, but not likelihood of working past retirement age. Discussion This study provides empirical support for the SAVI model and uncovers the "wear and tear" effects of perceived workplace age discrimination on older workers' mental and overall health. We deliberate on social policies that may reduce age discrimination, thereby promoting older employees' health and ability to work longer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Much research has sought to understand how people construct their careers; however, only little is known about the career construction of older workers. To understand how people construct their careers in later life, we take a lifespan development perspective on career construction theory. Specifically, we propose and test a model in which we take a closer look at older workers' career adaptability and aging experience (i.e., physical loss, social loss, personal growth, and gaining self-knowledge) as relevant factors shaping their late career planning. Moreover, we explore whether these relationships are mediated by older workers' occupational future time perspective as an important underlying mechanism between adaptability resources (i.e., career adaptability), experiences (i.e., aging experience), and adapting responses (i.e., late career planning). We test our model with two-wave longitudinal data from a sample of older workers (aged 50 to 79) based in the United Kingdom. Results show that occupational future time perspective mediated the positive effects of career adaptability and personal growth, as well as the negative effect of physical loss on late career planning. Overall, our findings contribute to a better understanding of late career construction and offers practical implications for older workers to purse activities that help them to successfully plan their late career. Highlights • Occupational future time perspective is positively related to late career planning. • Career adaptability is positively related to late career planning. • Aging experience has differential effects on late career planning. • Occupational future time perspective mediates these relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For older workers, self-employment is an important alternative to waged employment. Drawing on social learning theory and social cognitive career theory we examine how attitudes toward one's own aging, future time perspective (captured by perceived time left to live) and perceived support from referent individuals predict self-efficacy for entrepreneurship and outcome expectations, influencing self-employment interest. Findings from a sample of professional association members (n = 174, mean age 52.5 years), revealed that an open-ended time perspective relates positively to entrepreneurial self-efficacy, while social support relates positively to outcome expectations. Consistent with social cognitive career theory, entrepreneurial self-efficacy mediated the relationship between future time perspective and interest in self-employment, and outcome expectations mediated the relationship between social support and interest in self-employment. This study extends current career and entrepreneurship theory in several ways. First, the inclusion of age-related psychosocial and sociocultural factors in the study model shed light on the intersection between older age, the contextual environment and development of self-employment interest. Second, the findings support earlier arguments that older entrepreneurship is a social process whereby the social context in which people work and live influences their interest in entrepreneurship, and that entrepreneurial behavior among older people needs to be supported to occur. Finally, the findings suggest the utility of social cognitive career theory in informing the development of self-employment interest in the late career stage. We discuss implications for the career and entrepreneurship literatures as well as practitioners involved in late-career counseling or seeking to promote entrepreneurship for older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]