Fiona Alpass, Christine Stephens, Andy Towers, Brendan Stevenson, Eljon Fitzgerald & Judith Davey

1. Older Workers and their Expectations about Retirement Adjustment Fiona Alpass, Christine Stephens, Andy Towers, Brendan Stevenson, Eljon Fitzgerald & Judith Davey School of Psychology

2. BackgroundHWR Study HRC Funded for 1st & 2nd waves of data collection. • Phase 1 (2006) involves three studies: • Postal survey of representative sample of NZers aged 54 and 70 (oversampling of Māori) • Interview with a sample of Māori in same age range. • Interview with sub-sample from the general population • Phase two (2008) – 2nd wave of survey and interview data

3. HWR Research Objectives To test the following hypotheses: • Participation in workforce positively related to health in midlife • Health in midlife positively related to health, participation, and independence in later life. • Effects of psychosocial factors on health across time moderated by gender and ethnicity.

4. Participant Recruitment • General Population Sample • Randomly selected from NZ Electoral Roll. • Māori Sample • Randomly selected from NZ Electoral Roll using the Māori descent indicator • Tailored Design technique (Dillman, 2000) • 5 contact points - maximise response rates

5. Questionnaire • The postal questionnaire included 7 sections: • Health and health service use • Physical activity levels • Social support • Work status and satisfaction • Retirement planning and perceptions • Demographic information • Māori cultural identity http://hwr.massey.ac.nz

6. Response rates • Response rate = 53% (N=6662*) • General Sample = 5,264 • Māori Sample = 7,781 Initial posting to 13,045 61% 48% * From 12,497 eligible

7. % % 46% 54% % % 43% 30% 27% Who are they? Age Gender Occupation Work Status

8. Retirement Adjustment • Poor adjustment related to negative health outcomes (e.g. Braithwaite et al., 1986; Richardson & Kilty, 1991; Sharpley & Layton, 1998) • Pre-retirement factors influence retirement adjustment.

9. Pre-retirement factors associated with Adjustment • “Push” “Pull” factors (Shultz et al., 1998) • E.g. poor health, leisure interests, positive/negative work situation (job satisfaction, work stress, career commitment) • Retirement Expectations • “modes of experiencing retirement” (Hornstein & Wapner, 1985; Hanson & Wapner, 1994;) • Transition to rest, New beginning, Continuity, Imposed Disruption

10. Hypotheses • Work involvement, career commitment and career and job satisfaction will be negatively related to anticipated retirement adjustment. • Leisure orientation, anticipated finances, work stress and self-rated health will be positively related to anticipated retirement adjustment. • Expectations about the nature of retirement will explain significant variance in anticipated retirement adjustment. • Those closer to retirement and those in full-time employment will be less positive about the ability to adjust to retirement.

11. Current Study -Sample • Workers aged 54 to 70 (N=4,130) • 31% Self-employed • 69% Employed by others • 68% Full-time • 32% Part-time • Economic Living Standards Index (MSD) • 1.8% Severe hardship • 3.3% Significant hardship • 5.6% Some hardship • 10.0% Fairly comfortable • 21.9% Comfortable • 39.5% Good • 18% Very good

12. Measures • Retirement Expectation Inventory (Gee & Baillie, 1999) • Leisure Orientation (Taylor & Shore, 1995) • Career Commitment (Blau, 1985) • Career Satisfaction (Greenhaus et al., 1990) • Work Stress (Towers et al., 2006) • Job Satisfaction (Warr et al., 1979) • Work Involvement (Kanungo, 1982) • Anticipated Finances in Retirement (Adams, 1999) • ELSI (MSD, 2005) • Self-reported health (Ware, 1997) • Age, marital status, sex, work status, time until retirement • Anticipated Retirement Adjustment (Taylor & Shore, 1995) • E.g. “When I imagine what retirement will be like, I feel depressed”, “I am confident I will easily adjust to retirement”, “I don’t think I will have any trouble handling retirement”, “I expect to enjoy retirement”

13. Negative Work Environment Positive Personal Environment +ve +ve Time to Retirement -ve Anticipated Retirement Adjustment +ve Transition to Rest +ve New Beginning +ve -ve Continuity Imposed Disruption

14. Hypothesis OneWork involvement, career commitment and career and job satisfaction will be negatively related to anticipated retirement adjustment. Work Involvement -ve*** -ve*** Career Commitment Anticipated Retirement Adjustment ns Job Satisfaction +ve*** Career Satisfaction ***p<.001

15. Hypothesis TwoLeisure orientation, anticipated finances, work stress and self-rated health will be positively related to anticipated retirement adjustment. Leisure Orientation +ve*** Anticipated Finances in Retirement +ve*** Anticipated Retirement Adjustment -ve Work Stress +ve** Self-rated Health **p<.01, ***p<.001

16. Hypothesis ThreeExpectations about the nature of retirement will explain significant variance in anticipated retirement adjustment. +ve*** Transition to Rest +ve*** New Beginning Anticipated Retirement Adjustment +ve*** Continuity -ve*** Imposed Disruption ***p<.001

17. Hypothesis FourThose closer to retirement and those in full-time employment will be less positive about the ability to adjust to retirement. Time to Retirement ns Anticipated Retirement Adjustment -ve* Age +ve** Work Status *p,.05, **p<.01

18. Regression Analysis: DV = Anticipated Retirement Adjustment • Adjusted R2 = .47, p<.001 • Not significant • Marital Status, Time until retirement, Job satisfaction • Significant beta at p<.05 • Age • Significant beta at p<.01 • Work Status, Self-rated Health, ELSI • Significant beta at p<.001 • Sex, Work Involvement, Job Stress, Career Commitment, Transitions Expectations, Career Satisfaction, New Beginnings Expectations, Continuity Expectations, Leisure Orientation, Anticipated Finances, Disruption Expectations

19. Discussion • Factors account for positive perceptions of future retirement adjustment for current workers • Being younger and male • Reporting better health and wealth now • Working part-time • Being less involved in work, having less work stress and career commitment but more career satisfaction • Having a strong interest in leisure pursuits, and believing your future finances are healthy • Expecting retirement to be a transition to rest, or a new beginning or a continuation of their current situation • Do these factors predict actual retirement adjustment?

20. “You who have reached the pinnacle, remain as a guiding light to us all”