Ch10 Employment Retirement and Living Arrangements Exam Prep

CHAPTER 10

EMPLOYMENT, RETIREMENT, AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Chapter 10 is divided into three main sections on topics having special significance for older adults: employment, retirement, and living arrangements. The first section, employment, describes the proportion of older adults in the United States who have continued to work at paid jobs over the past decades. Most of the available information is on European American men; there is less information on women or older adults from other ethnic groups. Based on what is known, the age of retirement was dropping for a number of years, meaning that more individuals were exiting from the work force at ages younger than 65. However, predictions for the 21st century are that individuals will continue to work to older ages.

There is a discussion of age and job performance, and stereotypes about older workers are pitted against available factual information. However, well-controlled studies on age and job performance are not readily available for a number of reasons. One is that job performance is a function of ability and experience, so it is difficult to study young and older workers who are comparable in both. In some instances, older workers maintain their performance by making use of selection, optimization, and compensation strategies.

Evaluating older employees is discussed, including the possible influences of a supervisor’s preconceived notions about older workers as well as the specific context of the work setting. With the Age Discrimination in Employment (ADEA) legislation there has been a reduction in blatant instances of discrimination toward older job applicants and workers, but subtle forms of age discrimination persist. It is especially difficult to evaluate whether there is age discrimination when it comes to hiring.

The second section of this chapter, retirement, focuses on those older adults who do retire from the paid labor force. Unless there has been a steady and uninterrupted work history, the exact moment of retirement is not always easy to specify, and what we know comes mostly from European American men. There is little evidence for negative physical or psychological effects when workers choose to retire and their departure is expected and typical for their age group. In such cases, loss of the work role does not result in an identity crisis or any long-lasting negative influence on marital relationships. Today, more married women are working than ever before, and it will be interesting to see how members of a couple time and cope with retirement.

With regard to the economics of retirement, the Social Security Act initiated in 1935 pays monthly lifetime benefits for most retired American workers that reach the required age. While the overall economic well-being of retired Americans has improved over the years, some older adults (especially older women) are economically disadvantaged, especially in the oldest-old (85+) age category. Some retired individuals supplement Social Security payments with payments from defined benefit (DB) or defined contribution (DC) pension plans. In this regard, older men and couples fare better than single older women.

With regard to retirement as a process, some researchers contend that retirement takes place in phases as follows: preretirement, honeymoon, disenchantment, reorientation, stability, and, in some cases, termination. In the preretirement years, married men who anticipate receiving private pensions are especially likely to plan for retirement. Also, men with a set target date for retirement often begin to disengage psychologically from the work role before they actually leave their jobs. Many newly retired individuals have a “busy ethic,” meaning that they keep up a hectic routine of activities after they leave the paid labor force. These activities include travel, sports, volunteer work, and educational pursuits, especially learning more computer skills.

Once retired, older adults are free to consider their options with regard to living arrangements, which is the topic of the third section in the chapter. The majority continue to live in the same locale, although some migrate across state lines, often in search of milder climates. Among those who migrate to distant locales in the young-old years, many move back to their home towns in their old-old years to be close to family members. Many older adults who remain in their native geographical area after retirement choose to “age in place,” meaning they continue to live in the same house of apartment. Aging in place is easier for couples than it is for single older adults and it often requires some help from family members or formal paid supportive services as well as physical modifications to the home. When older adults do decide to move, they must often deal with their material convoy, which consists of all the items they have accumulated over a lifetime.

Some older adults move to more supportive living environments that are age-segregated, or intended specifically for older adults. In contrast to age-integrated housing, age-segregated housing usually offers services such as meals in a common dining area, social activities on the premises, and transportation. On a continuum from the least to most supportive age-segregated living environments are retirement communities and hotels, adult congregate living facilities, board and care homes, assisted living facilities, nursing homes. In continuing care retirement communities, residents have access to several levels of support as needed.

SUGGESTED WEBSITES

Age Discrimination in Employment

www.eeoc.gov/facts/age.html

This website provides a detailed explanation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), which is designed to protect older workers.

National Academy on an Aging Society

www.agingsociety.org

This is the website of the National Academy on an Aging Society, which is a nonpartisan policy institute that conducts and compiles research on issues related to population aging. If you click on “Publications” and then click on “Young Retirees and Older Workers,” you will see reports of many characteristics of older workers and retirees, including a number of bar graphs and pie charts.

Health and Retirement Survey

www.agingsociety.org/agingsociety/links/hrs.pdf

This will take you to a document that reports on the research findings of the Health and Retirement Survey, which is sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA). This is a large-scale survey that covers information on work and retirement as well as on the income and wealth of older Americans.

AARP

www.aarp.org

This is the home page of the AARP organization. It contains information on how and why AARP was founded and it describes the mission of the organization. There are links to many websites dealing with issues of importance for older adults. With regard to housing, there are tips on avoiding foreclosure scams, on home repairs, and on housing choices for older adults. In addition, there are lists of discounts on various types of consumer goods and entertainment.

Road Scholar

www.roadscholar.org/

This website describes the various adventures offered through this nonprofit organization that are available for lifelong learning and the many options for both national and international educational travel.

Social Security

www.socialsecurity.gov

This website has information on who qualifies for Social Security benefits and how claims can be made. It has a calculator for projected retirement benefits and updated reports about the status of the Social Security program.

Nursing Homes

www.medicare.gov

This is the federal government’s Medicare website. There is a link to a site for comparing and selecting nursing homes. This link provides the names, addresses, and statistics for nursing homes within a specified radius of a city or zip-code. The list gives the address and phone number of each nursing home, the number of residents, whether the nursing home is “for profit” or “not for profit,” whether it is associated with a religious organization, whether it participates in the Medicare program, and whether there is a resident council and family council.

MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS

Select the best answer from the options provided.

1. Which of the following best describes Riley’s definition of an age-integrated society?

a. Young adults concentrate on the education role, middle-aged adults on the work role, and older adults on the leisure role.

b. Young, middle-aged, and older adults all participate equally in the three roles of education, work, and leisure.

c. Older adults are discouraged from retiring until they can no longer work full-time due to physical disability.

d. People are required to work part-time while still in school and they must retire by the age of 62.

2. Most of the information we have on median age of retirement is based on ______ men.

a. European American

b. Native American

c. Asian American

d. African American

3. From the period of 1950–1955 to the period of 1985–1990, the median age of retirement in the United States __________.

a. increased

b. stayed the same

c. dropped

4. Based on what we know today, the median age of retirement of American workers is likely to _________.

a. increase

b. decrease

c. stay the same

5. Compared to young workers, older workers __________________.

a. are more likely to have accidents on the job

b. are absent more times without prior approval

c. have greater emotional investment in the work role

d. are quicker to learn new tasks

6. Studies investigating the use of computers in the workplace have found that older workers are resistant or unwilling to switch over to computer technology.

a. True

b. False

7. Training older workers is a good investment because ______________.

a. older workers learn more quickly than young workers do

b. older workers do better than young workers when there is time pressure

c. older workers are highly committed to their jobs

d. All of the above

8. When there is no specialized training or environmental support, job performance in occupations that depend mainly on __________ abilities is most likely to _____________with increasing age.

a. fluid; remain stable

b. fluid; improve

c. crystallized; remain stable

d. crystallized; decline

9. Abraham and Hansson studied the strategies older workers say they would use to cope with any age-related losses in order to maintain their job performance. Older workers in their study said that they would try _______________.

a. to do as many tasks at one time as they can do to demonstrate their competency

b. to downplay their deficiencies to others

c. not to delegate any tasks to other people unless it becomes absolutely necessary

d. not to take credit for any of their accomplishments to their boss and co-workers

10. Compared with younger workers, older workers are often considered to be __________.

a. more reliable

b. less dependable

c. quicker to learn

d. less satisfied with their jobs

11. Compared with their evaluations of young workers, supervisors are most likely to give an older worker a negative job evaluation when ________________.

a. they have limited information about their employees

b. the other workers in the company are young

c. Both a and b

d. Neither a nor b

12. The most recent version of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) ____________.

a. only covers hiring practices

b. does not apply to companies with fewer than 20 employees

c. only applies to demotion and termination of employees

d. applies to workers between the ages of 40 and 65

13. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) has been extremely successful in eliminating all forms of age discrimination in hiring and evaluating older employees.

a. True

b. False

14. Age discrimination is most difficult to detect when it comes to ______.

a. hiring older workers

b. terminating older workers

c. promoting older workers

d. demoting older workers

15. Perry, Kulik, and Bourhis asked college undergraduate business majors to view video-taped job interviews and then to evaluate the young or older job applicant interviewed on the tape. They found that the _______________.

a. older applicant for a job selling CDs and tapes was evaluated less favorably than was the older applicant for a job selling stamps and coins

b. young applicant for a job selling CDs and tapes was evaluated less favorably than was the older applicant for the same job

c. older applicant for a job selling stamps and coins was evaluated less favorably than was the older applicant for a job selling CDs and tapes

d. older applicant for either job (selling CDs and tapes or selling stamps and coins) was evaluated more favorably than was the young applicant was

16. In a study by Erber and Danker, employees of a large company were told to imagine themselves in the hypothetical role as manager. They were asked how they would handle a situation in which a young or older employee is experiencing performance problems related to poor memory. When told that the company had high pressure to downsize, these employees were _________ to recommend that forgetful older employee be given job training than they were to recommend younger forgetful employees get job training.

a. more likely

b. equally likely

c. less likely

17. “Bridge employment” is best considered as ________________.

a. employment that represents a gradual transition from full-time employment to retirement

b. employment with the federal government that involves designing and building bridges

c. volunteer work designed specifically for older adults

d. full-time employment that is highly stressful and well paid

18. The transition to retirement is easiest to identify and study when individuals ________________.

a. have had a number of disruptions in their work careers

b. have had a steady uninterrupted work history

c. leave the labor force for health reasons

d. lose their jobs because of downsizing and prefer to consider themselves “retired” rather than “unemployed”

19. Retirement is least likely to have negative consequences when individuals _____________.

a. retire because of poor health

b. retire because of downsizing at their place of employment

c. choose to retire at a stage of life typical for their culture

d. retire in order to take care of a family member who needs help

20. A longitudinal study described in your book tested the level of self-esteem and depression over a two-year time period in workers who either remained in the labor force throughout the study or retired during the course of the study. What was found?

a. Level of self-esteem declined in the workers but not the retirees.

b. Depression scores declined in the retirees but not the workers.

c. Depression scores declined in the workers but increased in the retirees.

d. Level of self-esteem and depression scores increased in both workers and retirees.

21. With regard to the effects of retirement on the marital relationship, which statement is most accurate?

a. Most couples consider the transition to retirement to be a crisis.

b. Most couples have positive feelings about the transition to retirement.

c. Most couples go their separate ways when it comes to leisure activities.

d. After they retire, most men participate even less in household tasks than they did when they were working.

22. Ideally with regard to feelings of well-being, both members of a married couple should consider retiring at the same time.

a. True

b. False

23. From 1997 to 2008, the trend for “early” retirement (ages 55–64) declined (that is, more people in this age group remained in the workforce in 2008 than in 1997) in all but the following country:

a. United Kingdom

b. Germany

c. France

d. Greece

24. Which of the following is true about Social Security retirement benefits?

a. Retired workers can get full benefits, or monthly payments, at the age of 59½.

b. Retired workers can count on Social Security benefits to provide for all their financial needs.

c. If one member of a married couple dies, the other member loses all Social Security benefits if he or she never worked at a paid job.

d. None of the above.

25. Which of the following would be most reliant on income from Social Security benefits for retirement income?

a. European American single men

b. European American widowed women

c. African American single women

d. All of the above would be equally reliant on income from Social Security benefits when they retire.

26. Compared to defined benefit (DB) retirement pension plans, defined contribution (DC) pension plans ____________________.

a. are more portable

b. are more difficult for the worker to control

c. require a certain number of years of service with the company or organization

d. place the burden on the employer, or company, to provide lifetime benefits for retired employees

27. Compared to men who retire, women who retire ________________,

a. receive higher pension benefits

b. receive the same level of pension benefits

c. receive lower pension benefits

d. never receive any pension benefits

28. Which of the following is the most accurate order in the phases of retirement?

a. Termination, disenchantment, honeymoon

b. Reorientation, honeymoon, disenchantment

c. Honeymoon, disenchantment, reorientation

d. Stability, disenchantment, termination

29. Which of the following workers is most likely to plan for retirement ahead of time?

a. A married man who works for a large company

b. An unmarried woman

c. A man who is self-employed

d. A married woman who has been in and out of the paid labor force

30. Ekerdt and his colleagues studied job attitudes over three years in men ranging in age from 50 to 69 who worked full time but had plans to retire by a definite target date in the future. They found that the closer the men got to the planned date of retirement, ___________________.

a. the happier they were with their jobs

b. the more likely they were to claim their jobs were causing them tension and fatigue

c. the more they pushed the date of retirement to a later time

d. the more they regretted having made plans to retire

31. The busy ethic refers to the __________________.

a. efforts of social workers to provide as many programs and activities as possible for the benefit of frail older adults

b. recent trend for older adults to hold down two paying jobs in order to make ends meet

c. tendency of many older adults to engage in stock market “day trading” using their home computers

d. need people have to keep or feel busy and active in retirement

32. Road Scholar refers to ___________________.

a. resorts that serve older adults who wish to take luxury vacations

b. bed and breakfast hotels that serve older bicycle riders who travel together

c. noncredit courses for older adults given on college campuses or other places in various countries

d. special driving tests that older adults can take to qualify for auto insurance discounts

33. Amenity migration occurs most frequently when _________________.

a. young-old adults are healthy and independent

b. old-old adults move so that they will be near family members who can help them

c. oldest-old (85+) adults need more help than informal caregivers can provide

d. older adults of any age move in with their adult children for the sake of convenience

34. The term “aging in place” refers to older adults who ______________.

a. remain in their own homes with some services provided there if necessary

b. want to move in with their adult children

c. want to grow old in a retirement community with others their own age

d. resist growing old by participating in exercise programs that require them to run in place

35. Which of the following offers the most supportive living environment for older adults?

a. Retirement communities

b. Granny flats

c. Assisted living facilities

d. Condominiums

36. Which type of living environment tends to attract affluent older adults who are in relatively good health and want both privacy and recreational opportunities?

a. Retirement hotels

b. Retirement communities

c. Nursing homes

d. Board and care homes

37. Nursing homes ____________________________.

a. are more closely regulated than any other age-segregated living environment

b. may be paid for on a short-term basis by Medicare under some circumstances

c. may be paid for by Medicaid if residents fall below a certain income and have limited assets

d. All of the above

SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

1. Give two arguments for the prediction that in the near future, Americans workers will remain in the labor force to later ages than they do now.

2. What is the purpose of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)?

3. What factors are likely to make for happiness and satisfaction in retirement?

4. What are the advantages and disadvantages of defined benefit (DB) pension plans?

5. What are the advantages and disadvantages of defined contribution (DC) retirement plans?

6. Describe what is meant by “aging in place.”

7. What is the difference between an age-integrated living environment and an age-segregated living environment? Give an example of each.

8. What is meant by the “material convoy?” How does it relate to older adults’ living situations?

9. Compare the constant housing model and the accommodating housing model?

10. What are continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs)? What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in a CCRC?