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Health Subjectivities and Labor Market Participation: Pessimism and Older Workers’ Attitudes and Narratives Around Retirement.

Brown, Patrick R, Vickerstaff, Sarah (2011) Health Subjectivities and Labor Market Participation: Pessimism and Older Workers’ Attitudes and Narratives Around Retirement. Research on Aging, 33 (5). pp. 529-550. ISSN 0164-0275. (doi:10.1177/0164027511410249) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:34536)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0164027511410249

Abstract

Decisions around retirement and continued labor market participation are of great significance for those who make them, as well as policy makers, researchers, welfare states, and pension programs. The literature acknowledges the multifaceted nature of these choices and particularly the interaction of key variables—job satisfaction, financial status, caring responsibilities, spouse’s plans, and health. This article explores this latter factor, challenging assumptions that it can be treated as an unproblematic independent variable. Analyzing qualitative data from interviews with 96 people approaching or in the midst of retirement, the subjective experience of health and its effect on decisions was strongly evident. The socialized context—as shaped at societal, organizational, household, and individual-life-historical levels—was crucial in understanding how similar symptoms of morbidity resulted in widely varying decisions/outcomes. Direct interpersonal experiences, shaped by social structures, were useful in explaining the prevalence of health pessimism, despite general increases in life expectancy.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/0164027511410249
Uncontrolled keywords: Health pessimism, retirement, labour-market participation, subjective experience, phenomenology
Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
Divisions: Divisions > Division for the Study of Law, Society and Social Justice > School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research
Depositing User: Mita Mondal
Date Deposited: 05 Jul 2013 10:58 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 10:11 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/34536 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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