Health-related consequences of providing informal care & the effects of increasing the retirement age

Policies that aim to extend working lives can be difficult for older workers who face high job demands, caregiving responsibilities, or health problems. One proposed solution is allowing employees to reduce their working hours in the years before retirement. Using data from 1,241 Dutch employees aged 60–63 over eight years, the study finds that about one quarter planned to reduce their hours and one third eventually did so. The results show that workplace arrangements for reducing work hours play a key role in enabling this transition, especially for employees experiencing high job pressure.