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Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie

30.04.2019 | Original Contribution

The role of health in flexible working arrangements in Germany

Avenues to a longer working life?

verfasst von: Charlotte Fechter

Erschienen in: Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie

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Abstract

Background

In the context of retaining labour resources to meet demographic developments, phased retirement on the basis of flexible work (FW) aims at delaying the labor force exits of older workers.

Objective

How do health conditions relate to the use of FW as an instrument for gradual retirement to extend working lives?

Material and methods

By evaluating Cox proportional hazard models and by linking survey data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with register data from the Versichertenkontenstichprobe of the pension insurance records (VSKT), labor force exit rates at 50–65 years of age depending on health were analyzed.

Results

This study collated information about the discussion of labor flexibility as a tool to retain older workers in the labor market. It shows that reduced late career working hours leads to higher labor exit rates. Continuing to work in later life may be positively associated with health on the basis of FW, which fosters opportunities to work part-time. Employees with poor health are unlikely to prolong their working lives through FW and are more likely to leave the labor market early. In line with research pointing towards the emergence of new forms of inequality among older individuals by changing welfare state incentives, the findings show significant impacts of life-course determinants on labor exit behavior.

Conclusion

Increasing labour market retention on the basis of reducing working time depends on social attributes and personal preconditions. Influencing the attitude of older workers towards late retirement to adapt to future changes in societies remains a demand for research and policy debate discussing the benefits of gradual retirement for older workers.
Fußnoten
1
This concept was developed by Richard Thaler (e. g., [26]) and supports the notion of subtle policy shifts that encourage people to make decisions that lead to a socially desirable outcome.
 
2
EP reflects the level of income for a given year.
 
3
This is in addition to the various types of disability pensions, for which there is generally no minimum age requirement [24].
 
4
Detailed information on the data structure is given in [21].
 
5
Information was gathered from data on social incomes and on the height of EP. For individuals showing EP (referring to national average incomes) of below 60%, part-time employment was assumed [21].
 
6
The abbreviation ‘ref.’ refers to the reference category for which the largest category of variables is used when constructing dummy variables.
 
7
Controlling for cohorts is necessary to counteract differences observed by gender, as the Growth and Employment Promotion Act (WFG) of 1997 increased the age limit for women (born until 31.12.1951) from the year 2000 in monthly stages from 60 to 65 years in Germany.
 
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Metadaten
Titel
The role of health in flexible working arrangements in Germany
Avenues to a longer working life?
verfasst von
Charlotte Fechter
Publikationsdatum
30.04.2019
Verlag
Springer Medizin
Erschienen in
Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie
Print ISSN: 0948-6704
Elektronische ISSN: 1435-1269
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-019-01551-1