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Unemployment and the Older Worker in the Netherlands: Re-entry into the Labour Force or Resignation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2018

Kène Henkens ,
Maarten Sprengers  and
Frits Tazelaar
Kène Henkens
Affiliation:
Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), P.O. Box 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, The Netherlands
Maarten Sprengers
Affiliation:
Interfaculty Environmental Studies (ER), University of Amsterdam
Frits Tazelaar
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Utrecht University
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Abstract

In this article we present the results of a panel survey in which 242 men aged 40 to 55 were followed for approximately seven years after they became involuntarily unemployed. The study focused on reintegration probabilities of the older workers and on the question of their reaction to a situation of prolonged unemployment. The study shows that if policy is not changed, the probability of the reintegration of older, long-term unemployed persons into the labour force will remain extremely low. Re-entry via a ‘normally’ functioning labour market (formal application procedures and official job intermediaries) takes place almost exclusively during the first year after dismissal. If a new job is not found, a resigned feeling occurs among almost all of this older unemployed group. Most of the older people adjust to the new circumstances sooner or later. If one wishes to protect older persons from the trap of long-term unemployment (and in many cases total exclusion), more rapid interventions must be made, and reorientation and retraining efforts must be started sooner, before it is ‘too late’. From the employer’s point of view, there is not much interest in those who are still unemployed after one year.

Keywords

Older workerunemploymentresignationre-entrydiscouraged workerThe Netherlandspanel study
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , September 1996 , pp. 561 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

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