The impact of leisure complementarity on the labour force participation of older males in Spain

Abstract

This work seeks to gauge the complementarity or shared leisure effect in Spain. The study evidences the importance which the increase in female activity rates has on the decision of their male spouses to prolong their labour market participation. Thus, if active ageing is to be encouraged, vis-à-vis nonearly exit from the labour force of those in the latter stages of their working lives, and if the burden on public pensions is to be alleviated, comprehensive economic policies need to be adopted addressing the family unit of older persons as a whole rather than focusing on each individual member.

Keywords:

• labour force participation
• Spain
• older men
• leisure complementarity

JEL Classification:

• J22
• J26
• J12
• J14
• C35

Notes

¹ A general overview of such factors may be seen in Maestas and Zissimopoulos (2010).

² Although, as we have seen, the increased participation rate of older males in Spain commences after 1995, we confine ourselves to a series of years that comprise a sampling period for which the survey in question offers homogeneous information on participation rates.

³ When performing estimations using bivariate probits, the model needs to be identified. The variable we use for this purpose is the number of ascendants living in the household. This variable has a clear (and positive) impact on the wife’s decision to participate but not on the husband’s.