Work in Progress
Who works beyond the 'standard' retirement age and why?
Summary
- Item:
- 10429
- Title:
- Who works beyond the 'standard' retirement age and why?
- Type:
- Managed research project
- Project no:
- NR07508
- Status:
- Finished
- Date commenced:
- 3 April 2009
- Contact:
- Tabatha Griffin
- phone: 08 8230 8431
- email: tabatha.griffin@ncver.edu.au
- Principal researcher:
- Chris Ryan
- Social Policy Evaluation, Analysis and Research Centre, Australian National University
- Related program:
- Securing their future: Older workers and the role of VET
Purpose
This project will investigate which types of workers continue in employment beyond age 65 years.
Approach
Quantitative
Research questions
This project will address the following questions:
- What are the observable characteristics of workers who work beyond the `standard’ retirement age?
- What factors influence retirement decisions of older workers?
- Do older workers remain in the labour force through choice or necessity?
- Which types of policies are necessary to encourage labour force participation beyond the current pension retirement age?
Methodology
The analysis will follow the passage of two cohorts of workers aged 65 younger than in 1996 (aged 45 – 54 and 55-64 respectively) in a survey undertaken 10 years later (where they are aged 55 – 64 and 65-74) to see which groups of workers remain employed in terms of their skill and education levels, how the skill requirements of their jobs change and how their remuneration changes. This will give a better sense of whether older workers remain in the labour force through choice or necessity. This will provide information about the types of policies that may be necessary to encourage labour force participation beyond the current pension retirement age.
The analysis would utilize data from the 1996 Survey of Aspects of Literacy (SAL) and the 2006 Adult Literacy and Life Skills (ALLS) Survey. Both surveys include information on skill requirements, employment status, individual literacy skills and earnings of people up to age 74 years. The comparison of the two surveys further allows an examination of changes over time for a specific cohort, allowing an estimate of ageing effects on their labour force participation.
Specifically, the aim will be to estimate where in the 1996 distribution of income the workers who remained employed in 2006 came from – were they predominantly from the top of the distribution, which would suggest financial factors are not the main reason for their continuing in work, or from lower down the distribution. Regression and matching techniques will be used to make these comparisons.
