Intentions to retire among older people in Europe: A cohort perspective in Kosovo

Background: The ageing phenomenon, which is mainly due to birth declines and increased life expectancy, has had a considerable impact on economies and societies in Europe. In particular, ageing has brought challenges to European labour markets, by increasing the age dependency ratio in impacted economies. As a result, there is a clear need for the longer retention of older people in the labour market.
Thesis aim: The main aim of this thesis was to investigate intentions to retire among older people (i.e., those aged 55 years and above) in Europe in relation to demographic, individual, social and work-related factors.
Methodology: The research presented in the thesis used a mixed methods design comprising qualitative and quantitative methods, each conducted in two data cohorts, collected in 2016 and 2021. In this way it was possible to investigate the changing patterns in retirement intentions and related factors over a five-year period. The qualitative studies comprised semi-structured interviews conducted with 37 older participants from Kosovo in 2016 and 2021 to identify themes which were considered to be important to the work activity of older people. In contrast, the quantitative studies were designed to systematically investigate intentions to retire across Europe in relation to individual, social and work-related factors, as identified in the qualitative studies. The quantitative data were collected in 2016 and in 2021 as part of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) project, based in a sample of 19,542 older participants, collected in 28 European countries and Israel.
Results: Findings from qualitative thematic analyses of data collected from semi-structured interviews identified a range of individual, social and work-related factors, which were reported to have a positive and negative influence on the work activity of older people. These factors were classified as facilitators (e.g. positive feedback, rewards/work recognition, satisfaction with work, etc.) and barriers (e.g. work stress, health issues, work pressure, etc.) of older people’s work activity. Furthermore, key strategies that older people use in their successful working were identified relating to individual behaviour and working methods towards keeping themselves fit for work and based on the interactions that older people have with others at work.
The results from quantitative studies were derived by employing logistic regression, which revealed positive relations between several individual and work related factors and non-early intentions to retire including higher job satisfaction, better self-perceived health, higher quality of life and wellbeing, lower workload, and lower support from others. Females and those with a higher educational level tended to retire later, beyond their retirement age.
Conclusions: The research presented in this thesis identified several factors that were found to have an important role in the retirement intentions of older people and their longer retention in labour market. This has important implications for state and organizational policy adaptions to provide more flexible employment possibilities for older people beyond their formal retirement time. This thesis therefore adds to the current body of knowledge in further understanding the active ageing phenomenon through older people’s intentions to (un)retire, in a larger socio-economic context both in Kosovo as well as across Europe.