Couples' adjustment to retirement: a multi-actor panel study

Abstract

Objective: This study examines adjustment to retirement by couples. For both older workers and their partners, we investigate the extent to which adjustment is influenced by the context in which the transition is made and psychological factors shaped by individual expectations and evaluations prior to retirement. Moreover, we examine the extent to which partners influence each other in the process of adjusting to retirement.

Methods: With use of multi-actor panel data from 559 older Dutch couples who experienced the transition into retirement of one of the partners, ordinary least squares, and three-stage least squares regression models are used to explain adjustment to retirement by both partners.

Result: Adjustment to retirement is influenced by the context in which the transition is made as well as individual psychological factors. A strong "quantitative" attachment to work (full-time jobs, long work histories), a lack of control over the transition, retirement anxiety (negative preretirement expectations), and low scores on self-efficacy are predictors of difficult adjustment. The extent to which partners influence each other in the process of adjusting to retirement appears to be limited.

Discussion: Retirement affects both partners, albeit in a different way. Retirement preparation programs should pay attention to the fact that adjustment is an individualized process experienced differently by each partner.