This article reports on factors affecting the withdrawal of older workers from the labour market associated with unemployment, premature retirement and retirement at 65 years of age. Longitudinal data from three interviews with 175 adult males are examined; and findings show a process of psychological withdrawal from the labour market reflecting changes in personal identity which occur prior to reaching the formal retirement age, most strongly for those without heavy financial commitments. For most of those interviewed, retirement was a preferred option to unemployment, and allowed them to regain control over their lives. Older workers whose financial needs keep them in the employment market are doubly disadvantaged since they cannot select the route of early retirement and find it much harder to compete with younger people.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Atchley, R.C. (1983) Aging: Continuity and Change, Belmont, CA: Walsworth.
2.
Banks, M.H., Clegg, C.W., Jackson, P.R., Kemp, N.J., Stafford, E.M. and Wall, T.D. (1980) `The use of the General Health Questionnaire as an indicator of mental health in occupational studies', Journal of Occupational Psychology, 53, 187-194.
3.
Beehr, T.A. (1986) `The process of retirement: A review and recommendations for future investigation', Personnel Psychology, 39, 31-55.
4.
Ermisch, J. (1990) Fewer Babies, Longer Lives, York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
5.
Goldberg, D. (1972) The Detection of Psychiatric Illness by Questionnaire, Windsor: Oxford University Press.
6.
Jackson, P.R. and Warr, P.B. (1984) `Unemployment and psychological ill-health: The moderating role of duration and age', Psychological Medicine, 14, 605-614.
7.
Jones, A. and Longstone, L. (1990) A Survey of Restrictions on Job Centre Vacancies, Research and Evaluation Branch Report no. 44, Employment Department, Employment Service, March.
8.
Kohli, M., Rein, N., Guillemard, A-M. and Van Gunsteren, H. (1991) Time for Retirement: Comparative Studies of Early Exit from the Labour Market, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
9.
Laczko, F., Dale, A., Arber, S. and Gilbert, G.N. (1988) `Early retirement in a period of high unemployment', Journal of Social Policy, 17, 3, 313-333.
10.
McGoldrick, A. and Cooper, C.L. (1980) `Voluntary early-retirement - Taking the decision', Employment Gazette, August, 859-864.
11.
Metcalf, H. and Thompson, M. (1990) Older Workers: Employers' Attitudes and Practices, IMS report no. 194, IMS Manpower Commentary Programme, ISBN 1-85184-098-2.
12.
Rotter, J.B. (1966) `Generalized expectancies for internal versus external control of reinforcement', Psychological Monographs, 80, 1-28.
13.
Schuller, T. and Walker, A. (1990) The Time of Our Life, London: Institute for Public Policy Research.
14.
Talaga, J. and Beehr, T.A. (1989) `Retirement: A psychological perspective' in C. L. Cooper Psychology, London: Wiley.
15.
Taylor, P. and Walker, A. (1991) Too old at 50, London: Campaign for Work, Research Report, 3, 2.
16.
Taylor, P. and Walker, A. (1992) `What are employers doing to defuse the demographic timebomb?'Skills and Enterprise Briefing, Department of Employment.
17.
Taylor, P. and Walker, A. (1993) `Employers and older workers', Employment Gazette, Department of Employment.
18.
Tillsley, C. (1990) The Impact of Age on Employment, Warwick Papers in Industrial Relations, University of Warwick.
19.
Trinder, C. (1990) Employment after 55, London: National Institute for Economic and Social Research, Discussion Paper no. 166.
20.
Walker, A. (1985) `Early retirement: Release or refuge from the labour market?', The Quarterly Journal of Social Affairs, 1, 3, 211-229.
21.
Walker, A., Guillemard, A-M. and Alber, J. (1991) Social and Economic Policies and Older People, Brussels: European Commission.
22.
Walker, A. and Taylor, P. (1993) `Ageism vs productive ageing: The challenge of age discrimination in the labour market' in S. Bass, F. Caro and Y. Chen (eds.) Achieving a Productive Aging Society, Westport: Greenwood.
23.
Warr, P.B., Cook, J.D. and Wall, T.D. (1979) `Scales for the measurement of some work attitudes and aspects of well-being', Journal of Occupational Psychology, 52, 129-148.
24.
Warr, P.B. and Jackson, P.R. (1983) `Self-esteem and unemployment among young workers', Le Travail Humain, 46, 355-366.
25.
Warr, P.B. and Jackson, P.R. (1984) `Men without jobs: Some correlates of age and length of unemployment', Journal of Occupational Psychology, 57, 77-85.
26.
Warr, P.B. and Jackson, P.R. (1987) `Adapting to the unemployed role: A longitudinal investigation', Social Science and Medicine, 25, 1219-1224.
27.
Westergaard, J., Noble, I. and Walker, A. (1989) After Redundancy, Oxford: Polity Press.
