Contributing Factors to Post-Retirement Employment and Life Satisfaction

Background/Purpose: The aging workforce, encompassing retirees aged 65 and over, has been expanding. This situation arises from demographic shifts as well as financial pressures experienced by both governments and individuals. Retirement is not necessarily equal to stopping working. The growing post-retirement workforce underscores the necessity for corresponding social work support, including tailored healthcare provisions and enhanced employment opportunities. However, there is a notable shortage of social work professionals specializing in geriatrics, exacerbated by a general lack of formal education curricula addressing retirement-related issues.

In research, there exists a significant gap in exploring older adults' employment after retirement within specific age brackets and its correlation with retirement satisfaction within the realm of social work. This study aims to investigate the contributing factors towards post-retirement employment from a comprehensive view and to examine the relationship between post-retirement employment and retirement satisfaction from a social work perspective.

This study adopted two theoretical frameworks, Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory and Atchley's continuity theory. Both emphasize the continuity and dynamics of human development, as well as the crucial interaction between individuals and the environments they are involved in.

Methods: Data and samples: This study is secondary-data quantitative research utilizing data sourced from the RAND HRS Longitudinal File 2020. The sample is restricted to individuals born in 1948 and 1949, comprising 1561 respondents.

Measures: The longitudinal study tracks the changes in retirement trajectories and self-reported well-being over time, providing insights into the dynamics of various factors shaping retirement plans, decisions, and satisfaction. These factors include personal financial resources, personal resources, family situations, as well as professional experiences. Special attention is directed towards the factors influencing older adults' plans and decisions to continue working beyond the age of 65. Linear regression and logistic regression are employed to assess the predictive capability of independent variables on those outcome variables.

Results: The study finds that personal financial resources and personal resources have statistically significant relationships with their plans to work after the age of 65 when they were 63 and 64, their retirement trajectories, and their retirement satisfaction when they were 69 and 70. However, the results showed that respondents’ working plans and retirement decisions are not impacted by their family situations, working history, and current working situation. Furthermore, the results revealed significant correlations between respondents' plans to work and retirement decisions, as well as between retirement trajectories and retirement satisfaction.

Conclusions and Implications: This study highlights that post-65 employment intentions, retirement trajectories, and retirement satisfaction are influenced by interconnected factors beyond personal financial and resource considerations. The findings provide insights for gerontological social work practice concerning older clients’ job-related needs, educating employers about the benefits of hiring older workers and advocating for age-friendly policies. It lays the groundwork to enhance future practitioners' preparedness to address equal employment opportunities for older adults and their well-being throughout retirement.