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Symposium

Social Research, Policy, and Practice

The Landscape and Outlook for Continued Work Later in Life in the 2020s

Friday, November 10, 2023
12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
Location: Room 122

    Chair(s)

  • Kevin Cahill, PhD

    Economist
    Center on Aging & Work
    Boston College
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

    • Co-Chair(s)

  • Benjamin Shaw, PhD, MPH (he/him/his)

    Professor
    Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health
    University of Illinois - Chicago
    Chicago, Illinois, United States

    • Discussant(s)

  • Brian Beach, DPhil

    Senior Research Fellow
    Epidemiology & Public Health
    University College London
    London, England, United Kingdom

    • Individual Symposium Abstract First Author(s)

  • Kevin Cahill, PhD

    Economist
    Center on Aging & Work
    Boston College
    Boston, Massachusetts, United States

  • Loretta Platts, PhD

    Researcher and associate professor
    Psychology
    Stockholm University
    Stockholm, Sweden

    Slides
  • SR

    Siavash Radpour, PhD (he/him/his)

    Assistant Professor of Economics
    Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis
    Stockton University
    Galloway, New Jersey, United States

    Slides
  • HW

    Heng Wu, PhD

    Postdoctoral Fellow
    Department of Gerontology
    Dalhousie University
    Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

    Slides

For the first time in more than three decades, older workers’ labor force participation rates are no longer increasing. Even more remarkable is that this trend contrasts with changes among younger workers, who have experienced increases in labor force participation in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. A narrative that has existed for more than two decades—that older workers have been the exception to reductions in labor force participation generally—may be coming to an end. A question then is, in the 2020s, will older workers who exited the labor force during the pandemic return?

This symposium explores the new landscape that older workers face. The first paper addresses work-related trade-offs and the extent to which older workers assess the benefits and costs of continued work later in life. The second paper explores how pension eligibility triggers a new stage of the life course, in which older workers can leverage their newfound financial gains to improve work conditions or, alternatively, to exit the labor force. The third paper explores, specifically, how the Covid pandemic changed the workplace for older workers. The fourth paper rounds out the symposium by exploring the relationship between income and health in recent years in both the United States and in China.

The flexibility of the U.S. labor force enables fairly abrupt shifts in workforce dynamics in response to macroeconomic changes and other events. The Covid-19 pandemic was one such shift. This symposium provides insight into the post-pandemic labor market for older workers.

This is an Economics of Aging Interest Group Sponsored Symposium.

Learning Objectives:

  • After attending this session, participants will gain an understanding of the ways in which the labor market for older workers has changed in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • After attending this session, participants will gain an understanding of the multifaceted retirement transition process among different cohorts of older Americans in the United States and in China.
  • After attending this session, participants will gain an understanding of the ways in which pension eligibility leads to a new stage of the life course.

Presentations:

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    How Much Is Workplace Flexibility Worth to Older Workers? An Analysis of Monetary and Nonmonetary Trade-Offs

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Kevin E. Cahill, PhD – Boston College

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Postpensionable Age as a Distinct Career Stage

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Loretta G. Platts, PhD – Stockholm University

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    Effects of COVID-19 Pandemic on Older Workers' Labor Market and Retirement Decisions

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Siavash Radpour, PhD (he/him/his) – Stockton University

  • 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET
    The Effect of Income Security in Old Age on Health Outcomes: A Comparison Between China and the US

    Individual Symposium Abstract First Author: Heng Wu, PhD – Dalhousie University