TY - JOUR
T1 - Determinants of early retirement preferences in Europe
T2 - The role of grandparenthood
AU - Hochman, Oshrat
AU - Lewin-Epstein, Noah
N1 - Funding Information:
This article uses data from SHARE release 2.5.0, as of 24 May 2011. The SHARE data collection has been primarily funded by the European Commission through the 5th framework programme (project QLK6-CT-2001- 00360 in the thematic programme Quality of Life), through the 6th framework programme (projects SHARE-I3, RII-CT- 2006-062193, COMPARE, CIT5-CT-2005-028857, and SHARELIFE, CIT4-CT-2006-028812) and through the 7th framework programme (SHARE-PREP, 211909 and SHARE-LEAP, 227822). Additional funding from the US National Institute on Aging (U01 AG09740-13S2, P01 AG005842, P01 AG08291, P30 AG12815, Y1-AG-4553-01 and OGHA 04-064, IAG BSR06-11, R21 AG025169) as well as from various national sources is gratefully acknowledged (see http://www.share-project.org for a full list of funding institutions). Authors wish to thank Alisa Lewin, Moshe Semyonov, and Haya Stier for their insightful comments and suggestions.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the German-Israel Foundation for Scientific Research (GIF) grant (#1021- 305.4/2008).
PY - 2013/2
Y1 - 2013/2
N2 - Various family characteristics are acknowledged as important determinants of retirement preferences. Yet, the relevance of the third family generation - the grandchildren - has been largely overlooked. In this article we bring the association between grandparenthood and retirement preferences to the fore. We expect to find such a relationship for two main reasons: first, rising participation rates in the labor market, especially among mothers, increases the need for childcare which, in some countries, is only partially provided by the state. Second, for many people grandparenthood marks the transition to a new phase in the life-course, implying new role-identities. We thus expect grandparenthood to decrease anxieties associated with retirement and with the potential loss of one's role-identity as a working person. We test the association between grandparenthood and retirement preferences using data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The findings confirm that grandparenthood increases an individual's chances of looking forward to retiring early, thus supporting the claim that individuals' lives are linked to the lives of their family members. Contrary to expectations, the association of grandparenthood with retirement preferences is particularly strong in countries that provide extensive childcare support.
AB - Various family characteristics are acknowledged as important determinants of retirement preferences. Yet, the relevance of the third family generation - the grandchildren - has been largely overlooked. In this article we bring the association between grandparenthood and retirement preferences to the fore. We expect to find such a relationship for two main reasons: first, rising participation rates in the labor market, especially among mothers, increases the need for childcare which, in some countries, is only partially provided by the state. Second, for many people grandparenthood marks the transition to a new phase in the life-course, implying new role-identities. We thus expect grandparenthood to decrease anxieties associated with retirement and with the potential loss of one's role-identity as a working person. We test the association between grandparenthood and retirement preferences using data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The findings confirm that grandparenthood increases an individual's chances of looking forward to retiring early, thus supporting the claim that individuals' lives are linked to the lives of their family members. Contrary to expectations, the association of grandparenthood with retirement preferences is particularly strong in countries that provide extensive childcare support.
KW - Europe
KW - grandparenthood
KW - linked-lives
KW - retirement
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84877827165&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0020715213480977
DO - 10.1177/0020715213480977
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AN - SCOPUS:84877827165
SN - 0020-7152
VL - 54
SP - 29
EP - 47
JO - International Journal of Comparative Sociology
JF - International Journal of Comparative Sociology
IS - 1
ER -