The Labour Force Participation of Older Men in Britain, 1951-81

Abstract

This paper evaluates the relative impact of a range of health, economic and structural factors on the employment experience of older male workers in Britain in the 30 years since 1951. It is based on a cross-sectional analysis of data on age of workforce in 34 industrial sectors drawn from the decennial censuses from 1951 to 1981. It finds that early retirement is influenced primarily by economic factors, although health becomes important in 1981. Retirement at age 65 appears to be conditioned by structural factors, particularly the way in which exit from the labour force at age 65 is managed by employers and trade unions. By showing that retirement and early retirement behaviour are influenced by different factors, and that the importance of these factors has changed over time, this paper demonstrates why earlier research focusing on monocausal explanations has been unable to generate robust results.

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