|
Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the experiences of retirees who were aged 51 to 61 in 1992 and therefore who were 61 to 71 in 2002, Cahill and his colleagues found, “men and women who have no health insurance on their FTC* job are most likely to take a bridge job if they leave their career job, as 78 percent of these uninsured men and 74 percent of the women did. Also, both men and women who lose health insurance coverage when leaving a FTC* job are more likely to exit the labor force completely than other workers in the sample.” (p.14)
* FTC means full-time career. The authors, define full-time career (FTC) job as “one that consists of at least 1,600 hours per year (“full time”) and that lasts ten or more years (“career”).” (p. 8) The authors explain and define bridge jobs as some individuals /retirees “take on short-duration or part-time jobs after leaving full-time career (FTC) employment. These jobs bridge the gap between FTC employment and complete labor force withdrawal, and are aptly called “bridge jobs.” (p. 4)
Cahill, E. K., Giandrea, D. M., & Quinn, F. J. (2005, September 29). Are traditional retirements a thing of the past? New evidence on retirement patterns and bridge jobs. Working paper. Retrieved July 18, 2006, from http://ideas.repec.org/p/boc/bocoec/626.html
“This paper investigates whether permanent, one-time retirements are coming to an end just as the trend towards earlier and earlier retirements did nearly 20 years ago. We explore how common bridge jobs are among today’s retirees, and how uncommon traditional retirements have become. Design & Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we explore the work histories and retirement patterns of a cohort of retirees aged 51 to 61 in 1992 over a ten-year time period in both a cross-sectional and longitudinal context. Bridge job determinants are examined using bivariate comparisons and a multinomial logistic regression model of the bridge job decision.”
|
