Did Age Discrimination Protections Help Older Workers Weather the Great Recession?

SummaryThis paper investigates the development of skill shortages during the period 2007-2012. Using the German Establishment Panel of the Institute for Employment Research (IAB), we find differences across the years before, during and after the Great Recession. Furthermore, we analyze the importance of firm characteristics and that of certain, specific measures with respect to the skill shortage.The empirical analysis reveals that the relative skill shortage in the service sector during the Great Recession was more substantial than before and after 2009. The opposite pattern is observed for working time accounts. Firms with a high share of female workers typically experience usually less difficulty in finding qualified employees to fill jobs. However, during the Great Recession, the opposite was observed. Young firms facing competitive pressure, high wages, and without working time accounts that did not hoard skilled workers in the past tend to skill shortage. The estimations confirm that apprenticeship and further training serve to reduce the number of unfilled, high-skill jobs. It is also helpful when the firm has developed a plan for its personnel requirements. Other measures such as retaining older workers or hiring foreign workers were not successful. Ultimately, a skill shortage within a firm is often only a short-term phenomenon and less often observed over a longer period.

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The Effects of the Great Recession on the Retirement Security of Older Workers

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science ◽

10.1177/0002716213499535 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 650 (1) ◽

pp. 124-142 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Alicia H. Munnell ◽

Matthew S. Rutledge

Keyword(s):

Social Security ◽

Interest Rates ◽

Great Recession ◽

Older Workers ◽

Job Loss ◽

Older Americans ◽

The Great Recession ◽

Retirement System ◽

Retirement Security ◽

Low Interest Rates

The Great Recession had a profound effect on the retirement security of older Americans, and the slow recovery from the downturn will have a lasting impact on their quality of life. The nature of today’s retirement system left older households exposed to the collapse in the equity and housing markets and induced many to plan for a later retirement. More late-career workers experienced job loss than in previous recessions, often with long jobless spells, encouraging a record number of early Social Security retirement claims and disability applications. Going forward, workers who lost a job can expect lower earnings and more instability and, potentially, poorer health. Even households that avoided job loss will have less money available for spending in retirement due to low interest rates and reduced home values. These findings emphasize the importance of Social Security as income insurance and the need for a more robust retirement income system.

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What Explains Changes in Retirement Plans during the Great Recession?

The American Economic Review ◽

10.1257/aer.101.3.29 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 101 (3) ◽

pp. 29-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Author(s):

Gopi Shah Goda ◽

John B Shoven ◽

Sita Nataraj Slavov

Keyword(s):

Labor Market ◽

Great Recession ◽

Older Workers ◽

Housing Markets ◽

Individual Heterogeneity ◽

Subjective Probabilities ◽

Retirement Plans ◽

Labor Market Conditions ◽

The Great Recession ◽

Retirement Study

We examine changes in subjective probabilities regarding retirement between the 2006 and 2008 waves of the Health and Retirement Study. Using a first-difference approach to eliminate individual heterogeneity, we find that the steep drop in asset prices in 2008 increased the reported probability of working at age 62 during the Great Recession. Increasing unemployment at least partly attenuated this effect, but subjective probabilities of working did not respond to changes in housing markets. Older workers' probabilities of working were more sensitive to fluctuations in the stock market, but less responsive to changes in labor market conditions.

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