Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-03T00:46:43.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

From plans to action? Retirement thoughts, intentions and actual retirement: an eight-year follow-up in Finland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 July 2020

Satu Nivalainen Open the ORCID record for Satu Nivalainen [Opens in a new window]
Satu Nivalainen*
Affiliation:
Finnish Centre for Pensions, Eläketurvakeskus, Helsinki, Finland
*
*Corresponding author. Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This study applies Feldman and Beehr's three-step model to examine retirement as a decision-making process leading from retirement thoughts to retirement plans and from retirement plans to actual retirement. The results show that retirement thoughts have a clear independent effect on retirement plans as measured by intended retirement age. Furthermore, retirement plans have an isolated effect on retirement patterns. Intended retirement age is the strongest predictor of actual retirement age. Retirement intentions can be thought to represent the effect of unobservable characteristics on retirement, such as preference and motivation. Retirement plans materialise with quite high accuracy. Several key factors are associated with intended and actual retirement age in a similar manner. Unemployment and higher income are connected with earlier planned and actual retirement. Health has a pronounced effect: better health is conducive to later retirement while weaker health (sickness absences) is conducive to earlier retirement. This applies both to retirement intentions and actual retirement and to the difference between the two. The most important way for organisations to extend working lives is to look after the health of older employees. Giving older workers an increased sense of control and lowering job demands helps to prevent premature retirement. Supporting older workers’ continued employment is significant for the retention of older workers, while layoffs targeting older workers shorten working lives.

Keywords

ageing workforceretirement intentionretirement timingorganisational context
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , January 2022 , pp. 112 - 142
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderson, K, Burkhauser, R and Quinn, J (1986) Do retirement dreams come true? The effect of unanticipated events on retirement plans. Industrial and Labour Relations Review 39, 518–526.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Becker, G (1965) A theory of the allocation of time. Economic Journal 75, 493–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beehr, TA (1986) The process of retirement: a review and recommendations for future investigation. Personnel Psychology 39, 31–55.10.1111/j.1744-6570.1986.tb00573.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beehr, TA, Glaser, KM, Canali, KG and Wallwey, DA (2001) Back to basics: re-examination of demand–control theory of occupational stress. Work & Stress 15, 115–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berglund, T, Seldén, D and Halleröd, B (2017) Factors affecting prolonged working-life for the older workforce: the Swedish case. Nordic Journal of Working-life Studies 7, 19–36.10.18291/njwls.v7i1.81396CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blekesaune, M and Solem, PE (2005) Working conditions and early retirement: a prospective study of retirement behavior. Research on Aging 27, 3–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Böckerman, P and Ilmakunnas, P (2017) Do good working conditions make you work longer? Evidence on retirement decisions using linked survey and register data. Labour Institute for Economic Research, Working Papers 315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, E, Hagger-Johnson, G, Head, J, Shelton, N, Stafford, M, Stansfeld, S and Zaninotto, P (2016) Working conditions as predictors of retirement intentions and exit from paid employment: a 10-year follow-up of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. European Journal of Ageing 13, 39-48.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Damman, M, Henkens, K and Kalminj, M (2015) Women's retirement intentions and behavior: the role of childbearing and marital histories. European Journal of Population 31, 339–363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Desmette, D and Gaillard, M (2008) When a ‘worker’ becomes an ‘older worker’: the effects of age-related social identity on attitudes toward retirement and work. Career Development International 13, 168–185.10.1108/13620430810860567CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Disney, R and Tanner, S (1999) What can we learn from retirement expectations data? Institute of Fiscal Studies, Working Paper Series W99/17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dwyer, DS and Hu, J (2000) Retirement expectations and realizations: the role of health shocks and economic factors. In Mitchell, OS, Hammond, BP and Rappaport, AM (eds), Forecasting Retirement Needs and Retirement Wealth. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, pp. 274–287.Google Scholar
European Commission (2018) The 2018 Ageing Report. Economic and Budgetary Projections for the 28 Member States (2016–2070) (Institutional Paper 079). Economic and Financial Affairs, European Commission. Available at https://ec.europa.eu/info/publications/economy-finance/2018-ageing-report-economic-and-budgetary-projections-eu-member-states-2016-2070_en.Google Scholar
Feldman, DC and Beehr, TA (2011) A three-phase model of retirement decision making. American Psychologist 66, 193–203.10.1037/a0022153CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fisher, GG, Ryan, LH and Sonnega, A (2015) Prolonged working years: consequences and directions for interventions. In Vuori, J, Blonk, R and Price, RH (eds), Sustainable Working Lives: Managing Work Transitions and Health Throughout the Life Course. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer, pp. 269–288.Google Scholar
Frins, W, van Ruysseveldt, J, van Dam, K and van den Bossche, SNJ (2016) Older employees’ desired retirement age: a JD-R perspective. Journal of Management Psychology 31, 39–49.Google Scholar
Harkonmäki, K, Martikainen, P, Lahelma, E, Pitkäniemi, J, Halmeenmäki, T, Silventoinen, K and Rahkonen, O (2009) Intentions to retire, life dissatisfaction and the subsequent risk of disability retirement. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 37, 252–259.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hausman, J and McFadden, D (1984) Specification tests for the multinomial logit model. Econometrica 52, 1219–1240.10.2307/1910997CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hellemans, C and Closon, C (2013) Intention to remain at work until legal retirement age: a comparative analysis among different age subgroups of employees. Europe's Journal of Psychology 9, 623–639.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henkens, K and Leenders, M (2010) Burnout and older workers’ intentions to retire. International Journal of Manpower 31, 306–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henkens, K and Tazelaar, F (1997) Explaining retirement decisions of civil servants in the Netherlands. Intentions, behavior, and the discrepancy between the two. Research on Aging 19, 139–173.Google Scholar
Henkens, K and van Solinge, H (2002) Spousal influences on the decision to retire. International Journal of Sociology 32, 55–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herrbach, O, Mignonac, K, Vandenberghe, C and Negrini, A (2009) Perceived HRM practices, organizational commitment, and voluntary early retirement among late-career managers. Human Resource Management 48, 895–915.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hospido, L and Zamarro, G (2014) Retirement patterns of couples in Europe. Institute for the Study of Labor, Bonn, Germany, IZA Discussion Paper 7926. Available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=2396381.Google Scholar
Järnefelt, N and Nivalainen, S (2016) Miksi julkisella sektorilla aiotaan myöhemmin vanhuuseläkkeelle kuin yksityisellä? [Why public-sector workers intend to retire later than private-sector workers?]. In Järnefelt, N (ed.), Työolot ja työurat – tutkimuksia työurien vakaudesta ja eläkkeelle siirtymisestä (Eläketurvakeskuksen tutkimuksia 08/2016). Helsinki: Eläketurvakeskus, pp. 201–225. (In Finnish)Google Scholar
Karasek, RA (1979) Job demands, job decision latitude, and mental strain: implications for job re-design. Administrative Science Quarterly 24, 285–306.10.2307/2392498CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karasek, RA and Theorell, T (1990) Healthy Work: Stress, Productivity, and the Reconstruction of Working Life. New York, NY: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Kim, JE and Moen, P (2002) Retirement transitions, gender, and psychological well-being: a life-course, ecological model. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 57B, 212–222.10.1093/geronb/57.3.P212CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, SJ and Freese, J (2014) Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables Using Stata, 3rd Edn. College Station, TX: Stata Press.Google Scholar
Machado, CS and Portela, M (2014) Hours of work and retirement behaviour. IZA Journal of European Labor Studies 3, 16.10.1186/2193-9012-3-16CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Munnell, AH, Sanzenbacher, GT and Rutledge, MS (2018) What causes workers to retire before they plan? Journal of Retirement 6, 35–52.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oakman, J and Wells, Y (2013) Retirement intentions: what is the role of push factors in predicting retirement intentions? Ageing & Society 33, 988–1008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prothero, J and Beach, LR (1984) Retirement decisions: expectation, intention, and action. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 14, 162–174.10.1111/j.1559-1816.1984.tb02228.xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Radl, J (2013) Labour market exit and social stratification in Western Europe: the effects of social class and gender on the timing of retirement. European Sociological Review 29, 654–668.10.1093/esr/jcs045CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riekhoff, A-J (2018) Institutional and socio-economic drivers of work-to-retirement trajectories in the Netherlands. Ageing & Society 38, 568–593.10.1017/S0144686X16001252CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Riekhoff, A-J and Järnefelt, N (2017) Gender differences in retirement in a welfare state with high female labour market participation and competing exit pathways. European Sociological Review 33, 791–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rust, J and Phelan, C (1997) How Social Security and Medicare affect retirement behavior in a world of incomplete markets. Econometrica 65, 781–831.10.2307/2171940CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salonen, P, Arola, H, Nygard, C and Koivisto, A (2003) Factors associated with premature departure from working life among ageing food industry employees. Occupational Medicine 53, 65–68.10.1093/occmed/kqg012CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shacklock, K, Brunetto, Y and Nelson, S (2009) The different variables that affect older males’ and females’ intentions to continue working. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources 47, 79–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shultz, KS and Adams, GA (2007) In search of a unifying paradigm for understanding aging and work in the 21st century. In Shultz, KS and Adams, GA (eds), Aging and Work in the 21st Century. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 303–319.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shultz, KS, Wang, M, Crimmins, EM and Fisher, GG (2010) Age differences in the demand–control model of work stress. Journal of Applied Gerontology 29, 21–47.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Solem, PE, Syse, A, Furunes, T, Mykletum, RJ, De Lange, A, Schaufeli, W and Ilmarinen, J (2016) To leave or not to leave: retirement intentions and retirement behavior. Ageing & Society 36, 259–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Statistics Finland (2018) Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Households’ Assets. Helsinki: Statistics Finland. Available at http://www.stat.fi/til/vtutk/index_en.html.Google Scholar
Statistics Finland (2019) Quality of Work Life. Helsinki: Statistics Finland. Available at http://www.stat.fi/til/tyoolot/index_en.html.Google Scholar
Stephens, GK and Feldman, DC (1997) A motivational approach for understanding work versus personal life investments. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management 15, 333–378.Google Scholar
Szinovacz, ME, Martin, L and Davey, A (2014) Recession and expected retirement age: another look at the evidence. The Gerontologist 54, 245–257.10.1093/geront/gnt010CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ten Have, M, van Dorsselaer, S and de Graaf, R (2014) Associations of work and health-related characteristics with intention to continue working after the age of 65 years. European Journal of Public Health 25, 122–124.10.1093/eurpub/cku181CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Topa, G, Morlano, JA, Depolo, M, Alcover, C-M and Morales, JF (2009) Antecedents and consequences of retirement planning and decision-making: a meta-analysis and model. Journal of Vocational Behavior 75, 38–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tuominen, E, Karisalmi, S, Takala, M and Kaliva, K (2012) How do intentions affect future retirement? A case study of the Finnish flexible old-age pension scheme. European Journal of Social Security 14, 111–131.10.1177/138826271201400203CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Dam, K, van der Vorst, JDM and Heijden, BIJM (2009) Employees’ intentions to retire early. A case of planned behavior and anticipated work conditions. Journal of Career Development 35, 265–289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Solinge, H and Henkens, K (2007) Involuntary retirement: the role of restrictive circumstances, timing, and social embeddedness. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences 62B, 295–303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van Solinge, H and Henkens, K (2014) Work-related factors as predictors in the retirement decision-making process of older workers in the Netherlands. Ageing & Society 34, 1551–1574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Virtanen, M, Oksanen, T, Batty, GD, Ala-Mursula, L, Salo, P, Elovainio, M, Pentti, J, Lybäck, K, Vahtera, J and Kivimäki, M (2014) Extending employment beyond the pensionable age: a cohort study of the influence of chronic diseases, health risk factors, and working conditions. PLOS ONE 9, e88695.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wang, M and Schultz, KS (2010) Employee retirement: a review and recommendations for future investigation. Journal of Management 36, 172–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wulff, J (2015) Interpretating results from the multinomial logit model. Organizational Research Methods 18, 300–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zappalá, S, Depolo, M, Fraccaroli, F, Guglielmi, D and Sarchielli, G (2008) Postponing job retirement? Psychosocial influences on the preference for early or late retirement. Career Development International 13, 150–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Nivalainen supplementary material

Nivalainen supplementary material

Download Nivalainen supplementary material(File)
File 49.4 KB