NY24-03: Precarious Work and Perceived Workplace Ageism as Structural Barriers in Racial/Ethnic and Gender Disparities in Expected Full-Time Employment Past Age 62

Abstract/Specific Aims:

While Americans dream about retiring early to enjoy more leisure time and pursue personal interests without the constraints of a full-time job, the reality for many who retire early is less ideal. Withdrawal from the labor force before reaching full retirement age (66-67) comes with significant economic challenges and risks including insufficient retirement savings, limited access to healthcare, and low Social Security Old Age (SSOA) retirement benefits (due to early take-up and lower lifetime contributions). Many who retire early do not necessarily choose to do so, but rather find themselves in that situation due to various complex personal histories and circumstances.

This proposal investigates the importance of precarious work status and workplace ageism as structural barriers to a financially secure retirement where individuals work until and claim benefits at full retirement age. We hypothesize that extended precarious employment and exposure to workplaces perceived to be ageist are resulting in earlier-than-ideal retirement, exacerbating existing racial/ethnic and gender inequalities in economic security at old age. We will provide novel evidence from nationally representative data on how a history of precarious employment and employment in workplaces perceived as age-discriminating affects individuals’ expectations of working full-time past age 62. We will test whether these factors serve as barriers to working full-time until full retirement ages and whether they affect racial/ethnic minorities and women more. We will also explore the mechanisms (such as  health and income/wealth) linking them to expectations of early retirement.

By focusing on older workers’ self-reported expectations to work after age 62, the proposed study will provide new insights into two potentially important but under-studied factors—precarious work and perceived workplace ageism—that may contribute to premature exits from the labor force. Findings from this research will benefit retirement researchers and SSOA policymakers in their understanding of how individuals make decisions about early retirement. Additionally, the proposed research will shed light on the role of perceived job insecurity and workplace ageism as structural  barriers to typical employment and retirement paths. We hypothesize that the role of precarious work and workplace ageism in early retirement decisions/expectations will vary across racial/ethnic and gender lines, amplifying economic and health disparities in later life. The broader contribution of the proposed work is to enhance knowledge around ongoing societal challenges regarding racial/ethnic and gender inequalities in economic wellbeing and risk of poverty at older ages and in retirement.

This research contributes to the growing literature on retirement expectations (e.g., Chan and Stevens 2004; Turner and Rajnes 2021), especially to the very limited understanding of racial/ethnic differences (e.g., Viceisza et al. 2022) and how race/ethnicity might interact with perceptions of workplace ageism in early retirement expectations.