Trajectories of job resources and the timing of retirement

Abstract Job resources benefit and motivate workers and, therefore, facilitate longer working lives. Yet, little is known about how job resources develop over time and how, in turn, trajectories of job resources are associated with retirement timing. Accordingly, this study examines job resource trajectories of older workers and to what extent these trajectories are related to when people retire. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), growth mixture models are conducted to examine the trajectory of three job resources, namely autonomy, skill development opportunities and recognition, from age 50 until workers retired or dropped out of the survey. Four trajectories of job resources are found: stable high resources, stable low skill development opportunities, stable low recognition and stable low resources. The results of the subsequent event history analysis of retirement timing show that older workers with trajectories of job resources characterized by stable low recognition and stable low resources are at higher risk of earlier retirement compared to those with other trajectories. The findings shed light on the importance of job resource trajectories for promoting longer working lives.