WhaT iNFLueNces reTiremeNT DecisiONs?

Abstract

Workforce ageing is likely to lead to labour and skills shortages. Many governments are seeking to increase workforce participation by older workers and to discourage early retirement. Thus factors that influence retirement decisions are important in both personal and policy terms. Information on a range of factors, including health and financial circumstances, is reviewed in this paper, with particular reference to New Zealand sources, especially the Health, Work and Retirement Study. The findings of the qualitative interviews that were part of this study illustrate how the influences interact, and highlight the importance of life-course factors, both personal and contextual, which underlie decisions about workforce participation in mid- and later life. THE CONTEXT – WORKFORCE AGEING New Zealand’s workforce is ageing. Its median age is projected to reach 42 in 2012 (Statistics New Zealand 2006:8). Projections indicate that labour-force growth will slow down due to population ageing and declining birth rates, and it is expected to become negative by the 2020s as large numbers of baby boomers exit the workforce, leading to labour and skills shortages (Stephenson and Scobie 2002). In a paper for the Employment of Older Workers Summit in September 2006, Judy McGregor, Human Rights Commissioner, highlighted the increase in employment rates required to maintain the labour force, even without an allowance for growth (Table 1) (McGregor 2006). By 2026, she suggests, New Zealand will need an extra 95,000 people in employment.

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