Transitions to part-time work at older ages: the case of people with disabilities in Europe

Abstract

This paper analyses the labour-force transitions of older workers with disabilities in general, particularly workers’ transitions to and from part-time employment within a European context. Using the two first waves (2004 and 2007) of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe, we compare transitions between employment statuses for disabled and non-disabled individuals, even after controlling for different disability trajectories. In addition, we employ a multivariate framework to examine the determinants for remaining in part-time work in 2007 for those individuals who were part-timers in 2004. The results show that older people with long-term disabilities have a higher probability of staying in a part-time job than their compared counterparts. Policy-makers must promote part-time employment as a means of increasing employment opportunities for older workers with disabilities and support gradual retirement opportunities with flexible and reduced working hours.

Keywords:

• disability
• employment transitions
• older workers
• part-time
• Europe

Notes

1. A full description of this database and its methodology is available online: http://www.share-project.org. See also Börsch-Supan and H. Jürges. (2005).

2. Some authors have argued that self-classification may lead to overestimation (when the individuals try to justify situations of inactivity or limited work activity) or underestimation (when the disability is regarded as a stigma) of the prevalence of disability rates (Chirikos & Nestel 1984; Kreider 1999).

3. To check the robustness of our estimation results, we have replicated all estimations by using different part-time thresholds. The sensitivity of the results is very limited and the main conclusions do not change. All these results are available upon request.

4. For brevity reasons, the status ‘Not in the labour force’ combines unemployment, retirement, homemaker, student and other inactivity situations.