Baby Boomers Retiring
Transitions to retirement have changed in Germany and other countries. At the interdisciplinary symposium "The Ageing of the Baby Boomers: Current Issues of Work and Retirement Research in a European Perspective" hosted by BiB on November 25, 2021, international experts discussed the adjustment problems faced by older people and the formation of the retirement phase of baby boomers from a European perspective. The symposium was chaired by BiB researcher Dr. Andreas Mergenthaler.
The focus was not only on the changing significance of retirement for older people, but also on the question of how they shape this phase of their lives and which factors, such as level of education, health status or their own economic situation, influence their decision to continue working or to engage in informal activities like volunteering.
Predominantly satisfied in retirement
In most European countries, the number of older people in retirement age who continue to participate in the labour force has increased. For the scientific study of this topic, this results in a variety of different research approaches and perspectives, as the contributions to the symposium showed. The topic of satisfaction and well-being during the transition to retirement played a major role.
The extent of satisfaction depends, among other things, on the perceived control over one's own life, as contributions from Germany and Switzerland made clear. Recent findings from Switzerland by Julia Reiner, Veronika Hämmerle and Prof. Dr. Sabina Misoch also show that the current pandemic even had a positive impact on the experience of retirement.
Variety of motives for continuing to work
The decision to continue working is based on a variety of motivations, as a Swedish study by Dr. Loretta G. Platts, Dr. Agnieszka Ignatowicz, Prof.Dr. Hugo Westerlund and Dr. Dara Rasoal showed. These include primarily material, normative and emotional factors. It should be noted, however, that working in retirement does not have the same consequences for everyone: For example, women and immigrants suffer the greatest financial losses if they cannot supplement their retirement income with paid work.
Large differences between countries
A comparison of the pension system, the share of voluntary work and the health status in three European countries (Austria, Romania, Switzerland) by Prof. Dr. Birgit Aigner-Walder and Christina Lobnig reveals the wide range of structures and conditions for the labour force participation of older people. In addition to differences in the length of working life and the share of volunteers, the level of perceived healthy life years also varies considerably between the three countries.
Commonalities in volunteering
A study by Dr. Peter Eibich, Dr. Angelo Lorenti and Dr. Irene Mosca confirmed that there is an increase in volunteering in retirement not only in Germany but also in England, Ireland and the United States. They examined the volunteering activities of 50- to 69-year-olds in these three countries. This reveals remarkable similarities, but also distinctions between the countries, for example in the influence of characteristics such as education or partnership status.
Open research questions in a European perspective
BiB researcher Dr. Andreas Mergenthaler summarized that the findings of the symposium highlight the great importance of international comparative research in the search for answers to the challenges posed by ageing baby boomers to labour markets and pension systems in many European countries.
The symposium, which brought together internationally renowned scientists and experts from politics and the public, is an important step toward international networking and agreement on future research goals. This includes, for example, the extension of research to the level of welfare state and company framework conditions, in particular preventative health measures at the workplace, which represent an important building block in the preservation of the working ability of older employees. At the same time, the perspective of the professionally self-employed on the post-professional phase of life should be given greater attention, and the conditions and consequences of paid work and voluntary work in retirement age should be researched from a European perspective. The main question here is how such activities can influence the quality of life and well-being of older people, even under the conditions of the ongoing Corona pandemic.
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