Working Paper: NBER ID: w24008
Authors: John Ameriks; Joseph S. Briggs; Andrew Caplin; Minjoon Lee; Matthew D. Shapiro; Christopher Tonetti
Abstract: Older Americans, even those who are long retired, have strong willingness to work, especially in jobs with flexible schedules. For many, labor force participation near or after normal retirement age is limited more by a lack of acceptable job opportunities or low expectations about finding them than by unwillingness to work longer. This paper establishes these findings using an approach to identification based on strategic survey questions (SSQs), purpose-designed to complement behavioral data. These findings suggest that demand-side factors are important in explaining late-in-life labor market behavior and need to be considered in designing policies aimed at promoting working longer.
Keywords: Older Americans; Labor Market Participation; Flexible Jobs; Retirement; Demand-Side Factors
JEL Codes: E24; J22; J26
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Flexible job conditions (J29) | Willingness of older individuals to work longer (J26) |
| SSQs (C31) | Willingness of older individuals to work longer (J26) |
| Demand-side factors (R22) | Labor market behavior (J29) |
| Job offers with flexibility (J29) | Acceptance rates of job offers (M51) |
| Employers' reluctance to offer flexible work (J29) | Low incidence of part-time work among older Americans (J29) |