The impact of socioeconomic characteristics on older employees' intentions to continue working in retirement age

Frank Micheel, Federal Institute for Population Research, Germany
Ines Wickenheiser, Federal Institute for Population Research, Germany

This paper aims to explore the question of whether and to what degree information on socioeconomic status (SES) – measured by professional status and disposable household income – can make reliable statements on older employees’ intentions to continue working in retirement age. These observations are controlled for professional and individual characteristics. The data basis is constituted by a sample survey entitled "Weiterbeschäftigung im Rentenalter (Continuing in employment in retirement age)" with N = 1,500 dependent employees aged from 55 to under 65 in Germany. Results of logistic regressions show that information on SES make a statistically significant contribution towards explaining willingness to continue working in retirement: In comparison to employees with a lower or medium professional status, those individuals who have a high professional status tended to be significantly more willing to remain in working life for longer. There is a negative connection between disposable household income and willingness to remain in employment in retirement age. The significant effects that were found are however restricted to the respondent women.