15 December 2005 - Publication of DWP research report 299: extending working life: a review of the research literature
Today the Department for Work and Pensions publishes the evidence from a literature review commissioned to assess the current state of knowledge about factors influencing work and retirement, identify any gaps in the literature and suggest possible data sources to fill them.
The review analysed a range of quantitative and qualitative social research studies on work and retirement, published in the UK over the period 1999-2005.
The main findings are:
- A combination of push and pull factors influence movement out of the labour market.
- Poor health and disability are the two most significant factors currently pushing people in their 50s and 60s out of the labour market.
- A mix of socio-demographic characteristics, including marital status, gender, socio-economic status, housing characteristics, financial resources and type of employment, influence decisions to remain at work.
- A variety of financial incentives and disincentives affect the likelihood of people returning to work, with financial insecurity and poor financial understanding, being reasons why people work longer.
- Older people continue to be disadvantaged in their access to training and further skill development. There is also evidence of people being unwilling to take up offers of training because they lack confidence or because it may be perceived as offering few advantages.
- Opportunities for flexible working are valued by many groups and most flexible working takes the form of part-time work or self-employment.
- Movement from work to retirement represents a significant transition in people’s lives and attitudes to work and retirement vary at different points of the transition.
- Decision making in the work/retirement transition is influenced by the degree of control which individuals have over key events affecting their lives.
- Opportunities for flexible working are valued by many groups and most flexible working takes the form of part-time work or self-employment. However, high quality flexible working may only be open to relatively limited number of occupational groups, with some groups, especially those from routine and semi-routine occupational groups having access to poorer quality flexible forms of employment. Improving understanding and access to flexible working for some sectors and occupations will be an increasingly important area of policy and communications development in our work through next year with employers, individuals and stakeholders.
- More information is needed on the experiences of different ethnic minority groups; on the cumulative and multiple forms of disadvantage; on the nature of decision making during the transition from work to retirement; greater information is needed on the role of partners and other network members in influencing retirement decision making; and more research is required examining the multiple transitions experienced by people as they move through their 50s.
Notes to Editors
- The literature review was conducted to review the evidence surrounding factors affecting work and retirement with a particular focus on the UK experience for workers aged 50-69, and on research conducted in the period 1999-2005. The research was conducted by Professor Chris Phillipson and Allison Smith from Keele University.
- Research Report 299 – ‘Extending working life: a review of the research literature’ is published on 15 December 2005. The report is available on the DWP website and hard copies can be obtained from Paul Noakes, Fourth Floor, The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT.
For further media enquiries please contact: Helen Boseley on 020 7238 0750
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Prepared by: DWPs Extending Working Life Division