Work and Retirement Transitions:

line managers and workplace

support

Chris Phillipson, Ross Wilkie and

Jemma Cowen

Key areas

• Background

• Policies behind extended W/R transitions

• Trends

• Factors behind withdrawal from the workplace

• Research on role of line managers

• Findings

• Some research questions

Debates on older workers

• 50s/60s: Labour force retention

• 70s/80s: Labour market exit

• 90s/early 2000s: Extending work

• Late 2000s: Extension - Exclusion

Employment/Population Ratios and

Activity: men and Women 55 - 64

1990 1994 1997 2004 2007

UK Men Labour participation rate 68.1 64.0 63.6 67.9 68.9

Employment /population ratios 62.4 56.6 58.6 65.4 66.1

UK Women Labour participation rate 38.7 40.7 40.3 48.3 50.1

Employment /population ratios 36.7 38.5 38.7 47.3 49.0

USA Men Labour participation rate 67.8 65.5 67.6 68.7 69.6

Employment /population ratios 65.2 62.6 65.5 66.0 67.6

USA Women Labour participation rate 45.2 48.9 50.9 56.3 58.3

Employment /population ratios 44.0 47.0 49.5 54.3 56.6

Source: OECD Employment Outlook: 1998 and 2008

Factors behind extended

transitions• Raising of pension ages (Pension

Regulator, Turner: retirement at 70?)

• Age discrimination and equality at work

(Employment Equality Age Regulations, 2006)

• Promotion of health and well-being in the workplace

(Black, 2008, Working for a Healthier Tomorrow)

• Economic and social value of older workers (‘Building a

Society for All Ages’, DWP, 2009)

• Pensions Crisis (decline of DB; declining value of DC)

Withdrawal from work

• What do we know of the key barriers in respect of health and workplace issues?

• Data sets:

British Household Panel Survey

DWP Survey (2003)

English Longitudinal Survey of Ageing

Labour Force Survey

Factors behind withdrawal

• Impact of transitions

• Impact of health issues

• Impact of detachment

• Impact of training

• IMPACT OF TRANSITIONS

Work status of cohorts of men:

Stable transitions

Transition Type

45-49 (52-56)

50-54 (57-61)

55-59 (62-66)

60-64 (67-71)

Stable

Full-time throughout 57.4 33.5 18.0 3.1

Part-time throughout 0.0 0.7 0.8 0.9

Unemployed

throughout

0.0 0.4 0.9 0.0

Inactive throughout 3.8 8.0 19.7 39.5

61.2 42.6 39.4 43.5

Source: British Household Panel Survey, Waves A-H (base = 1,132) (own calculations)

Occupational status of cohorts of

men: Bridging transitions

Transition Type

45-49

(52-56)

50-54

(57-61)

55-59

(62-66)

60-64

(67-71)

Bridging

Full-time + part-time 4.3 11.9 5.3 2.5

Full-time + part-time + unemployed 2.0 2.9 2.3 0.0

Full-time + part-time + inactive 1.5 5.0 7.2 4.7

Full-time part-time + unemployed +

inactive

0.9 1.1 1.0 2.0

8.7 20.9 15.8 9.2

Source: British Household Panel Survey, Waves A-H (base = 1,132) (own calculations)

Occupational status of cohorts of

men: unemployment transitions

Transition Type

45-49

(52-56)

50-54

(57-61)

55-59

(62-66)

60-64

(67-71)

Unemployed/inactive

Full-time + unemployed 11.3 6.3 0.5 0.0

Full-time + inactive 8.2 16.1 28.8 23.7

Unemployed + inactive 4.8 5.2 6.4 12.1

Full-time + unemployed +

inactive

4.8 8.3 5.8 2.7

Other 1.0 0.6 2.3 8.7

30.1 36.5 43.8 47.2

Source: British Household Panel Survey, Waves A-H (base = 1,132) (own calculations)

• IMPACT OF HEALTH FACTORS

Main reason for early retirement

Men Cell percentages

Age Total

50-55

55-59

60-64

Offered reasonable financial terms to retire early 22 31 31 30

Own ill health 49 24 24 27

Made redundant etc 5 15 15 14 To enjoy life while still young and fit enough 19 11 13 13 Fed up with job and wanted a change - 8 8 7 Ill health of a relative/friend 3 5 4 4 To spend more time with partner/family - 2 1 1 To retire at the same time as husband/wife /partner - - 1 *

Do not know 3 4 3 3 Total 100 100 100 100 Base: all respondents 32 104 209 345

Source: English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), Wave 1 2002 (own calculations)

Main reason for early retirement

Women Cell percentages

Age Total

50-55

55-59

Own ill health 27 35 33

Offered reasonable financial terms to retire early 9 16 14

To spend more time with partner/family 5 15 12 Made redundant 9 9 9 Fed up with job and wanted a change 14 7 9 To enjoy life while still young and fit enough 14 4 7 Ill health of a relative/friend 5 6 6 To retire at the same time as husband/ wife/partner 9 3 4 Could not find another job - 1 1 Do not know 9 4 56 Total 100 100 100 Base: all respondents 26 84 110

Source: English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), Wave 1 2002 (own calculations)

Proportion leaving work because of a health problem

Row percentages

Retired or left work due to a health problem

Base: All withhealth problem

Any health problem/disability 37 1725

Problems or disabilities connected with the arms or hands1 48 624

Problems or disabilities connected with the lefts or feet1 49 762

Problems or disabilities connected with the back or neck1 51 748

Difficulty in seeing 51 195

Difficulty in hearing 46 208

Skin conditions, allergies 45 159

Chest or breathing problems (e.g. asthma, bronchitis) 55 416

Heart, blood pressure or blood circulation problems 43 763

Stomach, liver, kidney or digestive problems 51 264

Diabetes 36 164

Depression, bad nerves or anxiety 63 305

Mental illness or suffer from phobia, panics or other nervousdisorders 63 114Source: DWP (2003)

1Including arthritis and rheumatismNote: Health problems for which there was a base of less than 50 have not been included in this table

Percentage of individuals aged 50 to 65 in paid

work in 2002-03 who stay in paid work or move out

of paid work between 2002-03 and 2004-05, job

type and self-reported health status in 2002-03

(men only)

Manual Workers Non-Manual Workers

Fair/poor Good V.good

/Excellent

Fair/poor Good V.good/

Excellent

% % % % % %

Working, working 68.8 86.9 87.2 80.5 84.8 88.3

Working, not working 31.2 13.1 12.8 19.5 15.2 11.7

Source: English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, Wave 2 (Emmerson & Tetlow, 2004)

Effect of health problems, by occupation

Row percentages

Not workingBaseForced

to retireNot forcedto retire

1 Managers and senior officials 23 77 138

2 Professional occupations 30 70 89

3 Associate professional and technical 32 68 87

4 Administrative and secretarial 20 80 127

5 Skilled trades occupations 43 57 156

6 Personal service occupations 37 63 69

7 Sales and customer services 21 79 73

8 Process, plant and machine operatives 46 54 153

9 Elementary occupations 34 66 222

All with SOC code 32 68 1114

Source: DWP (2003)

Expected chances of returning to paid employment for

economically inactive individuals below SPA

Cell percentages

Sample Size

Fraction reporting zero chance of working in

future

Average percentage chance of returning to

work

Men, 50-59 All inactive 409 65 15 Inactive and retired 141 75 9 Men, 60-64 All inactive 404 83 6 Inactive and retired 240 84 5 Women, 50-54 All inactive 270 64 15 Inactive and retired 29 - - Women, 55-59 All inactive 440 74 9 Inactive and retired 122 74 8

Note: Men below 60 are asked the chances of their being in paid employment at or after age 60; those between ages 60 and 64 are asked the same question with reference to age 65 . Women below age 55 are asked the chances of their being in paid employment at or after age 55; those between ages 55 and 59 are asked the same question with reference to age 60. Source: English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) (Banks and Casanova, 2003)

Reported desired changes to working situation

among those reporting that they have health

problems that limit their ability to work in their

current job

42.9

25.9

7.8

15

3.1

5.8

11.1

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Any change

Less physically demanding

Special equipment/workplace adaption

Less mentally demanding/stressful

Flexible hours

Working from home sometimes

Fewer hours/job sharing

Percentage

Source: English Longitudinal Study for Ageing, Wave 3 (Emmerson & Tetlow, 2004)

Proportion of employees who have attended a

formal educational or training course during

the past 12 months

Source: English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), Wave 1, 2002

Role of line managers

Literature on line managers and support from supervisors has run alongside research on older workers:

• 1980s – limited European research in context of ‘early exit’ from work

• 1990s – variety of studies in the context of policy debate about ‘age discrimination’/’institutional ageism’

• 2000s- studies continuing reflecting legislation on ageism but also ‘extended working life’ debate.

Literature on line managers

Three main traditions:

• Sociological/ Social Policy

• Human resource

• Occupational health

Literature on line managers

Sociological/Policy/Human Resource

Taylor/Walker (early-mid-1990s) quant/qual

Itzin/Phillipson (early-1990s) quant/qual

Platman/Tinker (1998) case study

Walker and Taylor (1999) comparative research

Brooke/Taylor (2005) case study

Loretto and White (2006) qualitative research

Maltby (2007) action research

Literature on line managers

Soc/Pol/HR: themes

• ‘Culture of organisation’ key factor shaping orientations towards older workers (Taylor&Walker, 1998)

• Role of line managers as ‘gatekeepers’ within organisations (Itzin&Phillipson, 1993)

• LMs using age stereotypes as a mechanism for organising human resources (Brooke&Taylor, 2005)

• Distance between ‘organisational level’ and ‘grass roots’ management (Loretto&White, 2006)

Literature on Line Managers

Occupational Health

• Search covering Medline, Enbase, Web of science, Psychoinfo, ageline, IBSS and ageinfo

• Line managers/ supervisors/foreman linked to older workers and variety of health terms:

arthritis/musculoskeletal/osteoarthritis/hip pain/knee pain/back pain etc/mental health/mental illness

• 649 refs reduced to 433 titles and abstracts

• Further reduced to 111 which had a mix of MSc and Mental Health dimensions

Literature on line managers

• Identified substantial literature covering MSc and mental health

• Limited specific discussion about older workers – age and cohort differences

• Limited attention to occupational/ gender/ ethnic/ social class dimensions and interaction with health issues

• Emphasises core role of supervisors in facilitating support for chronic conditions and RTW

Low level of LM support linked to:

• reduced work ability (RA) (De Croon et al., 2005)

• increased risk of hospitalization (back

disorders) (Kaila-Kanga et al., 2004)

• increased sick leave (RA) (Geuskens et al.,

(2008)

• stable or increased supervisor awareness associated with

decreased pain (RSI) (Cole et al., 2006)

Themes in occ.health lit

• Supervisor training programmes (MSc) (McLellan et al., 2001)

• Workplace pain management programmes) (Adams et al., 2003)

• Low involvement of managers prior to early retirement through ill-health (Brown et al., 2005)

• Reciprocal causal relationship between work and mental health) (De Lange et al., 2004)

• Relationship between low job control and limited supervisor support (Geuskens et al., 2008)

WORK, HEALTH AND WELL-BEING:

RESEARCH NETWORK

Some research questions:

• What is the role of line managers as gatekeepers

facilitating return to work? What variations can be

identified in terms of the impact of their in respect of

mental health and musculo-skeletal issues?

• What role is played by different work environments in

assisting return to work/retention etc?

• What forms of collaboration can be identified between

health organisations and employers?

• What is the role of self-care? How can its effectiveness be

enhanced within the workplace?

Research questions/ issues

• Potential for trials working with supervisors

in different work environments?

• Develop programmes tailored to specific

occupational groups?

• Support characteristics of different work

environments

• What are the inter-disciplinary

opportunities/ connections to be

developed within a research programme?

References

• Banks, J. and Tetlow, G. Extending Working Lives. In Living in the 21st Century. In: The 2006 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (Wave 3). Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2008.

• Cappellari, L. et al. Labour market transitions among the over-50s. Department for Work and Pensions, 2005.

• DWP (2003) Factors affecting the labour market position of older workers Research Report 2000 London: DWP

• Emmerson, C. and Tetlow, G. Labour Market Transitions. In: The 2004 English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Institute for Fiscal Studies, 2006.

• Loretto, ed The Future for older workers. Policy Press, 2007

• Phillipson, C. Transitions from work to retirement. Policy Press, 2002

Selected references

• Phillipson, C and Smith, A. Extending Working life: a review of the research literature. Department for Work and Pensions, 2005.

• Phillipson, C. Extending Working Life: problems and prospects for social and public policy. In Bauld, L. et al. Social Policy Review Policy Press, 2006

• Smeaton, D. and Vegaris, S. (2009) Older people inside and outside the labour market. Research Report No. 22. EHRC

• Schmid, G.Towards a theory of transitional labour markets. In Schmid, G and Gazier (eds) The dynamics of full employment. Edward Elgar, 2002.

• Vickerstaff, S. et al. Encouraging labour market activity among 60-64 year olds. Department of Work and Employment, 2008.