Tay K. McNamara

Across the continuum of satisfaction with work-family balance: Work hours, flexibility-fit, and work-family culture.

This study investigated the association between hours worked per week and satisfaction with work-family balance, using data from a 2007-2008 survey of employees nested within organizations. We tested hypotheses informed by the resource drain and resources-and-demands perspectives using quantile regression. We found that the negative association between hours worked per week and satisfaction with work-family balance was significantly stronger at the 25th percentile, as compared to at the 75th percentile, of satisfaction with work-family balance. Further, there was some evidence that perceived flexibility-fit (i.e., the fit between worker needs and flexible work options available) and supportive work-family culture attenuated the relationship between hours worked and satisfaction with work-family balance. The results suggest that analyses focusing on the average relationship between long work hours (such as those using ordinary least squares regression) and satisfaction with work-family balance may underestimate the importance of long work hours for workers with lower satisfaction levels.

Race, gender, and the retirement decisions of people ages 60 to 80: prospects for age integration in employment.

Demographic projections have prompted concerns about the potential economic burden of an aging population. This article, drawing on the 1998 Health and Retirement Study, explores ways in which race, gender, and age moderate the effects of various factors on labor force participation among people ages 60 to 80. Key findings center on health, education, and non-wage income. First, the effect of low non-wage income is weaker at older ages due to higher levels of functional disability. Second, the effect of low education is stronger for women, who perceive their chances of finding employment as low. Third, the effect of health is weaker for blacks, as they are less likely to find steady employment regardless of health. Policy implications: Employer flexibility in number of hours worked might make sense for workers close to retirement age, while job search and training programs might be preferable for workers past the typical retirement age.

Interrupted Trajectories and Labor Force Participation The Effect of Unplanned Changes in Marital and Disability Status

This study explored the effect of unplanned changes in disability and marital status on labor force participation for a sample of just under 6,000 men and women born between 1931 and 1941. It was based on Wave 1 (1992) through Wave 4 (1998) of the Health and Retirement Study data. Binomial hierarchical linear models were used to evaluate the change in the probability of working. Unplanned changes in disability and marital status had effects on labor force participation over and above the effects of the statuses themselves. These findings highlight the need for employer and government policies that minimize the stress that exists with unplanned events. Such policies might encourage higher labor force participation among workers who experience unplanned events that prompt them to exit the labor force earlier than they otherwise would have, with potentially adverse consequences for their subsequent socioeconomic status.

Why Some Workers Remain in the Labor Force Beyond the Typical Age of Retirement

This study explored the ways in which race, gender, and age moderated the effects of several determinants of labor force participation among people ages 60 to 80. The role of race, gender, and age in moderating the effect of various factors on labor force participation was examined using the 1998 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data. Binomial logistic regression models were used to evaluate the interaction between race, gender, age and other determinants of labor force participation. The effects of various factors on labor force participation differed by gender, race, and age. The negative effects of low education and poor health, respectively, were stronger for women and blacks. Also, the positive effect of low non-wage income was weaker for older workers, probably due partly to poorer health. Our findings suggest that different types of policies would help to encourage labor force participation among different groups. Because lack of access to employment may deter continued work among subgroups such as blacks and women with low education, job training or job search programs might provide incentives for employment in these groups. Additionally, employer flexibility regarding part-time work and work demands might make continued work attractive for more older workers.

Looking up to regulations, out at peers or down at the bottom line: How institutional logics affect the prevalence of age-related HR practices

Drawing on new institutionalism theory, this study examines the influence of institutional logics, the belief systems that direct decision-makers’ attention to particular sets of issues, on human resource (HR) adaptation to demographic changes. We argue that the prevalence of age-neutral HR management and of age-related HR practices such as age assessment and older worker-targeted practices, are shaped by the strength of the strategic (business case), benchmarking (comparing one’s set of policies with peers’) and compliance (laws and regulations) logics. In a sample of 420 US organizations, a strong strategic logic was associated only with greater prevalence of age-neutral HR management. A strong benchmarking logic was associated with greater prevalence of age-neutral HR management, of age assessment practices, and of older worker-targeted practices. A strong compliance logic was associated with greater prevalence of age-assessment and older worker-targeted practices. This article contributes to research on ageing and extends work on institutional logics by (1) focusing on organizations’ differential enactment of institutional logics, reflecting the contextual embeddedness of HR practices, and (2) showing that the prevalence of age-neutral HR management and of age-related HR practices are associated with competitive as well as institutional isomorphism.

Access to and Utilization of Flexible Work Options

Many workers do not utilize the flexible work options to which they have access nor do they necessarily have access to all options officially provided by their organizations. This study sheds light on these gaps using probit models with sample selection to predict access to and utilization of fourteen flexible options. The findings highlight the roles of supervisor support, occupation, and work‐life culture. The influence of each of these factors on access and utilization differs.

Do options for job flexibility diminish in times of economic uncertainty

This study explores the possibility that the 2008 economic recession affected the availability of flexible work arrangements by comparing two surveys of organizations in the USA, one conducted prior to the recession and the other after its onset. Adaptation and institutional perspectives are contrasted, revealing different expectations for the effects of economic tumult on the availability of flexible work arrangements. Greater support is found for the adaptation perspective, as organizations offered fewer flexible work options in 2009 than in 2006. They also engaged in less promotion of alternate work arrangements. Analysis indicates that prior trends toward increasing availability of flexible work arrangements have shifted downward.

The effect of training on organizational performance: differences by age composition and cultural context

This paper examines the effects of two training-related measures (i.e. average days spent on training an employee per year and the extent of concentration) on three aspects of organizational performance: level of productivity, rate of innovation, and rate of turnover for organizations in Anglo, Germanic, Nordic, and Eastern European cultures, as defined by the Global Leadership and Organization Behavior Effectiveness project. Analysis of the 2004 Cranet survey data indicates that both training-related measures positively affected the level of productivity in Anglo nations, but that the effect of extent of concentration was smaller for organizations with older age profiles.

Physical, Cognitive, Social, and Emotional Mediators of Activity Involvement and Health in Later Life

The current study tests the indirect effect of activity-related physical activity, cognitive activity, social interaction, and emotional exchange on the relationship between activity involvement and health (physical and emotional) in later life. Longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 5,442) were used to estimate a series of linear regression models. We found significant indirect effects for social interaction and benefit to others (emotional exchange) on emotional health (depressive symptoms) and indirect effects for use of body and benefit to others (physical) on physical health (frailty). The most potent indirect effect associated with emotional and physical health was experienced by those engaged in all four domains (use of body, use of mind, social interaction, and benefit to others). While effect sizes are small and results should be interpreted with caution, findings shed light on ways in which public health interventions aimed toward increasing role engagement in later life could be improved.

Working in Retirement A Brief Report

Despite the relatively large number of working retirees, very little research has focused specifically on their job experiences. This brief report aims to address this gap in the literature by examining what facets of workplace environment affect job satisfaction and engagement for people who are working in retirement. Data from the 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce, a sample representative of United States workers, are used to compare workers aged 50 and above who consider themselves retired (N = 203) to those in the same age group who do not consider themselves retired (N = 936). Results suggest that although the economic security offered by the job is less important to job satisfaction and engagement among those who are working in retirement than it is for other older workers, their relationship with their supervisor may be more important. Implications of these findings are considered along with potential directions for future research.