Issues related to the end of the career

The research into the issues related to the end of the career focuses on a fairly recent social problem, viz, the way in which an individual’s transition towards retirement is organised. The end of people’s careers is coming at an increasingly early stage in individuals’ lives and this leads to a number of social and economic problems. It might be possible to deal with those problems by extending the participation in the employment market and by means of gradual and flexible transition. This study aims, amongst other things, to examine these possibilities.

This research project focuses on surveying older employees (45 to 75 years old) on their attitude to participating longer in the employment market. We want to study three research questions by surveying older employees. The first research question draws on the timing of the transition (age) to retirement and the way in which it takes place (forced or desired, gradual or immediate), as well as the factors influencing this transition. With regard to the factors influencing retirement, we take into account the respondent’s opportunity structure (gender, education, financial situation, characteristics of the work, …), the respondents’ welfare and satisfaction (job satisfaction, satisfaction with private life, sense of well-being, …), cultural factors on the nature of the transition to retirement (institutional pressure for retirement, age discrimination at work, …) and the respondents’ expectations with regard to retirement.

The second aspect of the study focuses on the conditions under which people are prepared to extend their participation in the employment market. It takes both the pension system and the working conditions into account. Finally, the study focuses on the attitudes towards current and alternative pension systems. Both the second and the third research questions are aimed at making a number of proposals with regard to policy.