Attitudes towards working in retirement: a latent class analysis of older workers’ motives

One of the fastest growing labour market groups is working pensioners, meaning those who work past the statutory retirement age whilst receiving a pension. Previous research has investigated the motives of this group and found very heterogeneous reasons for employment in retirement. However, little is known about the expectations and preferred work arrangements of older workers regarding a potential post-retirement employment. Using data from the German survey transitions and old age potential, we explore older workers’ motives, preferences and expectations towards working in retirement. Results show that about half of the respondents plan to work in addition to receiving a pension; however, the share is higher amongst men and those with higher levels of education. The motives for staying in post-retirement employment vary as well: using latent class analysis, we find four distinct patterns of motives that can be classified as (1) financially-driven, (2) status-driven, (3) contact and fun-driven, as well as (4) generativity-driven, underlining the complexity of retirement decisions. Furthermore, preferences regarding arrangements when combining work and retirement are very heterogeneous. Whilst highly educated men want to work as self-employed, women and those with lower qualifications want to stay in their old jobs. Only small differences were found regarding preferred hours (about 17) and days per week (2.24). In summary, the results show that the rapidly growing group of working pensioners and their preferences should be seen as characterised by differences by those responsible for creating these post-retirement employment opportunities.