Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/125589 
Year of Publication: 
2014
Citation: 
[Journal:] IZA Journal of European Labor Studies [ISSN:] 2193-9012 [Volume:] 3 [Issue:] 5 [Publisher:] Springer [Place:] Heidelberg [Year:] 2014 [Pages:] 1-30
Publisher: 
Springer, Heidelberg
Abstract: 
Flexible work arrangements and retirement options provide one solution for the challenges of unemployment and underemployment, aging populations, and unsustainable public pension systems in welfare states around the world. We examine the relationships between well-being and job satisfaction on the one hand and employment status and retirement, on the other, using Gallup World Poll data for several European countries and the United States. We find that voluntary part-time workers are happier, experience less stress and anger, and have higher job satisfaction than other employees. Using statistical matching, we show that late-life workers under voluntary part-time or full-time arrangements have higher well-being than retirees. There is no well-being premium for involuntary late-life work and self-employment compared to retirement, however. Our findings inform ongoing debates about the optimal retirement age and the fiscal burdens of public pension systems.
Subjects: 
Subjective well-being
Job satisfaction
Employment
Voluntary part-time work
Retirement
Propensity score matching
JEL: 
J14
J21
J26
J28
I31
Z18
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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