Retiring in context : how socio-economic resources and pension eligibility produce unequal late careers

Abstract

With unprecedented demographic upheavals, the number and proportion of older people in the labour market are growing worldwide. The extension of working lives creates not only possibilities but also uncertainties for older workers. To support older workers of diverse backgrounds and enhance retirement security, researchers must advance the understanding of why older people choose to retire or work longer and how late-career engagement affects their life chances. Much literature has explored the retirement process and how proximate work, family, health, and motivational factors shape the opportunity structure of retirement. Nonetheless, how late-career decisions are made in the temporal and spatial contexts over the life course remains unclear. In particular, a comprehensive analysis of how socio-economic resources and social policies shape inequalities in late careers in ageing China is lacking. The present research aims to profile late working careers, investigate how socio-economic resources at various life stages and levels influence retirement and employment behaviours, and examine the health impacts of late-career engagement on older Chinese adults. Drawing upon the life course perspective, it proposes a framework that integrates temporal and spatial processes of late careers while considering the interplay between socio-economic resources and the pension system. Using prospective and retrospective survey data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (2011-2020), four studies were conducted to unpack the complexity of late careers in context. First, the study on lifetime socio-economic dynamics reveals that adulthood socio-economic resources and advantaged social mobility trajectories, including upward mobility and stably high status, were associated with lower odds of late-life employment, especially after pension eligibility ages. However, older adults from advantaged family backgrounds may be more likely to work in later adulthood. The extended working lives in disadvantaged older groups, with fewer adulthood socioeconomic resources or from unfavourable social mobility trajectories, signify the prominence of financial necessity concerning increasing pension income gaps, hukou-based access to welfare rights, and family financial needs. Second, socio-economic resources in the neighbourhood have a non-linear relationship with the transition into retirement, with older workers in resource-rich and resource-poor neighbourhoods both at a higher risk of labour market exit. The non-linear effects of neighbourhood socio-economic resources on labour market exit vary by individual occupation and household income, showing that less resourceful older workers are more sensitive to neighbourhood contexts. Third, internal migration, as a rational strategy for people seeking a better life, could benefit economic attainment and reduce the odds of employment beyond pension ages among older migrants. However, rural-origin migrants are more likely to work after reaching pension eligibility ages than urban-origin migrants. Disadvantaged older migrants who have gained fewer economic opportunities and experience welfare exclusion may have to work longer than their counterparts. Fourth, employment is generally beneficial for survival in mid-later adulthood. By considering both employment status and pension eligibility, it shows that inactivity before receiving pension income may trigger a greater risk of all-cause mortality and that employment continuity in retirement could reduce the risk of all-cause mortality. The longevity premium of employment continuity is more pronounced among older workers with more socio-economic resources but insufficient retirement protections. The findings indicate that differentiation in retirement decisions among older Chinese adults stems chiefly from socio-economic resources and welfare policies. Systematically uncovering the temporal and spatial dynamics that structure individual life chances could contextualise the understanding of unequal late careers. The findings provide important implications for public policymakers and social service providers aiming to support the rapidly expanding ageing workforce and enhance retirement well-being in China and elsewhere.