Working Beyond Retirement: Are there Gender Differences in Bridge Employment?

This paper examined gender differences associated with bridge employment using a sample of American workers aged 50 and older. Gender role theory and gendered life course retirement models informed this research. Gender differences and similarities were found in reasons why workers retired from thei...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ageing international 2021-03, Vol.46 (1), p.1-16
Main Authors: Beutell, Nicholas J., Schneer, Joy A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aging
Career stage
Employment
Families & family life
Gender differences
Gender roles
Health problems
Health status
Life course
Marital status
Men
Mental health
Older people
Older workers
Retirement
Role theory
Social Sciences
Workers
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper examined gender differences associated with bridge employment using a sample of American workers aged 50 and older. Gender role theory and gendered life course retirement models informed this research. Gender differences and similarities were found in reasons why workers retired from their main job. Logistic regressions indicated that men and women who had health care benefits available at work and men with lower family incomes were more likely to be pursuing bridge employment. Work interfering with family was related to a decreased likelihood of bridge employment for men and women, while work-family synergy was positively related to bridge employment for men. Health variables (self-rated health and mental health) were unrelated to bridge employment. Finally, gender and marital status interacted to predict engagement in bridge employment. Policy implications are discussed including the notion that working beyond retirement represents a new and complex career stage.
ISSN:0163-5158
1936-606X
DOI:10.1007/s12126-020-09363-0