title: Late-career work disengagement: the role of proximity to retirement and career experiences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Even though in retirement and career theories reference is made to a preretirement work disengagement process among older workers, quantitative empirical knowledge about this process is limited. The aim of this study is to improve our understanding of work disengagement in the preretirement period, by examining the impact of proximity to planned retirement (anticipated future) and work, educational, and health experiences (lived past) on changes of work disengagement during late careers.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using two-wave panel data collected in 2001 and 2006-2007 among Dutch older workers (N = 596), a scale was developed to measure work investments, activities, and motivation during late careers. We estimated conditional change models to examine changes of these scale scores (i.e., disengagement or re-engagement) over the studied period.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In line with the preretirement work disengagement process hypothesis, this study shows that many older employees disengage more from work when getting closer to their planned retirement age. Making promotion slows down the disengagement process. Declining health, in contrast, accelerates the process.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  For achieving a comprehensive understanding of the retirement process, not only the lived past but also the anticipated future (i.e., expected time-left in the current state) should be taken into account.
authors: Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute NIDI, P.O. Box 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, The Netherlands. damman@nidi.nl
authors: Marleen
authors: M
authors: Damman
authors: Kène
authors: K
authors: Henkens
authors: Matthijs
authors: M
authors: Kalmijn
mesh_terms: D002322:Career Mobility; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009042:Motivation / Q000502:physiology*; D009426:Netherlands; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000295:instrumentation; D012179:Retirement / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D013997:Time Factors; D014937:Work / Q000523:psychology*