Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-11T09:21:23.877Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Unemployment and the Older Worker in the Netherlands: Re-entry into the Labour Force or Resignation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 November 2018

Kène Henkens ,
Maarten Sprengers  and
Frits Tazelaar
Kène Henkens
Affiliation:
Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI), P.O. Box 11650, 2502 AR The Hague, The Netherlands
Maarten Sprengers
Affiliation:
Interfaculty Environmental Studies (ER), University of Amsterdam
Frits Tazelaar
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology, Utrecht University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article we present the results of a panel survey in which 242 men aged 40 to 55 were followed for approximately seven years after they became involuntarily unemployed. The study focused on reintegration probabilities of the older workers and on the question of their reaction to a situation of prolonged unemployment. The study shows that if policy is not changed, the probability of the reintegration of older, long-term unemployed persons into the labour force will remain extremely low. Re-entry via a ‘normally’ functioning labour market (formal application procedures and official job intermediaries) takes place almost exclusively during the first year after dismissal. If a new job is not found, a resigned feeling occurs among almost all of this older unemployed group. Most of the older people adjust to the new circumstances sooner or later. If one wishes to protect older persons from the trap of long-term unemployment (and in many cases total exclusion), more rapid interventions must be made, and reorientation and retraining efforts must be started sooner, before it is ‘too late’. From the employer’s point of view, there is not much interest in those who are still unemployed after one year.

Keywords

Older workerunemploymentresignationre-entrydiscouraged workerThe Netherlandspanel study
Type
Research Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 16 , Issue 5 , September 1996 , pp. 561 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aarts, L.J.M. and De Jong, P. R. 1990. Economic Aspects of Disability Behavior. Dissertation, Erasmus University, Rotterdam.Google Scholar
Allen, P. 1990. Looking for work after forty: Job search experiences of older unemployed managers and professionals. Journal of Employment Counselling, 27(3), 113–121.Google Scholar
Arbeidsvoorziening 1992. Opstap naar werk, Evaluatie heroriënteringsgesprekken. Arbeidsvoorziening Centraal Bureau, Rijswijk.Google Scholar
Bakke, E. W. 1940. The Unemployed Worker. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Burkhauser, R. and Quinn, J. 1989. Work and retirement: the American experience. In: Schmähl, W. (ed.), Redefining the Process of Retirement in an International Perspective, Springer, Berlin, 91–113.Google Scholar
Campbell, K. and Hurlbert, J. S. 1986. Social resources and socioeconomic status. Social Networks, 8, 97–117.Google Scholar
Casey, B. and Laczko, F. 1989. Early retired or long term unemployed? The situation of non-working men aged 55–65 from 1974 to 1986. Work, Employment and Society, 4, 509–526.Google Scholar
Daniel, W. W. 1972. Whatever Happened to the Works of Woolwich? PEP, London.Google Scholar
De Vroome, B. and Blomsma, M. 1991. The Netherlands: An extreme case. In: Kohli, M., Rein, M., Guillemard, A., van Gunsteren, H. (eds), Time for retirement, Comparative studies of early exit from the labor force, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Eisenberg, P. and Lazarsfeld, P. F. 1938. The psychological effects of unemployment. Psychological Bulletin, 35, 358–390.Google Scholar
Ekamper, P. and Henkens, K. 1993. Arbeidsongeschiktheid en VUT: Communicerende vaten? Economisch Statistische Berichten, June, 3913, 505–507.Google Scholar
Flap, H. D. and De Graaf, N. D. 1986. Social capital and occupational status. Netherlands Journal of Sociology, 22, 145–161.Google Scholar
Flap, H. D. and Tazelaar, F. 1988. De rol van informele sociale netwerken op de arbeidsmarkt: flexibilisering en uitsluiting. In: Flap, H. D., Arts, W. A. (eds), De Flexibele Arbeidsmarkt. Van Loghum Slaterus, Deventer.Google Scholar
Fryer, D. M. 1985. Stages in the psychological response to unemployment. A (dis)integrative review article. Current Psychological Research and Reviews, 5, 257–273.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. 1974. Getting a Job. A Study of Contacts and Careers. Harvard University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. 1985. Economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness. American Journal of Sociology, 91, 481–510.Google Scholar
Granovetter, M. S. 1988. The sociological and economic approaches to labor market analysis. In: Farkas, G. and England, P., Industries, Firms, and Jobs, Sociological and Economic Approaches. Plenum Press, New York/London: 187–216.Google Scholar
Guillemard, A. 1983. Old Age and the Welfare State. Sage, London.Google Scholar
Guillemard, A. and Van Gunsteren, H. 1991. Pathways and their prospects: A comparative interpretation of the meaning of early exit. In: Kohli, M., Rein, M., Guillemard, A., Van Gunsteren, H. (eds), Time f or Retirement, Comparative Studies of Early Exit from the Labor Force. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Han, A. and Hausman, J. A. 1990. Flexible parametric estimation of duration and competing risk models. Journal of Applied Econometrics, 17, 1–28.Google Scholar
Henkens, K. and Siegers, J. 1994. Early retirement: the case of The Netherlands. LABOUR, Review of Labour Economics and Industrial Relations, 8(1), 143–154.Google Scholar
Jahoda, M., Lazarsfeld, P. F. and Zeisel, H. 1933. Die Arbeitslosen von Marienthal, Hirzel, Leipzig.Google Scholar
Kemp, A. A. M. de 1992. Ouderen tussen pensioen en bijstand. Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, 95.Google Scholar
Kessler, R. C., Turner, J. B. and House, J. S. 1989. Unemployment, re-employment and emotional functioning in a community sample. American Sociological Review, 54(4), 648–657.Google Scholar
Laczko, F. 1987. Older workers, Unemployment and the discouraged worker effect. In: Di Gregorio, S. (ed), Social Gerontology: New Directions, Croom Helm, London.Google Scholar
Laczko, F. and Phillipson, C. Great Britain: The contradictions of early exit. In Kohli, M., Rein, M., Guillemard, A., Van Gunsteren, H. (eds), Time for retirement, Comparative studies of early exit from the labor force, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Lancaster, T. and Nickell, S. 1980. The analysis of re-employment probabilities for the unemployed. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series A, 143, 141–165.Google Scholar
Martens, A., Swinnen, H., Aerts, M. and Van Raemdonck, C. 1979. Na de Bedrijfssluiting. Sociologische Studies en Documenten, Sociologisch Onderzoeksinstituut, Leuven, Belgium.Google Scholar
Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment 1993. Kwartaalbericht, 3.Google Scholar
Riddle, S. M. 1984. Age, obsolescence and unemployment, older men in the British industrial system, 1920-1939: a research note. Ageing and Society, 4(4), 517–524.Google Scholar
Rife, J. and Kilty, K. 1989. Job search discouragement and the older worker: Implications for social work practice. Journal of Applied Social Sciences, 14(1), 71–94.Google Scholar
Rife, J. C. and First, R.J. 1989. Discouraged older workers: An exploratory study. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 29(3), 195–203.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schaufeli, W. 1988. Unemployment and Psychological Health. An Investigation among Dutch Professionals. Dissertation, Groningen University.Google Scholar
Siegers, J., Smit, L., Sprengers, M. and Tazelaar, F. 1992. De werkloosheidsduur van oudere mannen: een ‘proportional hazard rate’ analyse. Sociale Wetenschappen, 35(1), 32–51.Google Scholar
Sprengers, M. 1992. Explaining Unemployment Duration. An Integrative Approach. Dissertation, University of Utrecht.Google Scholar
Sprengers, M., Tazelaar, F. and Flap, H. 1988. Social constraints and reemployment. Netherlands Journal of Sociology, 24(2), 98–116.Google Scholar
Tazelaar, F. and Sprengers, M. 1984. Werkloosheid en sociaal isolement. In Van Goor, H. and Tazelaar, F. (ed), Werkloosheid, Themanummer Sociologische Gids, 31(1), 48–79.Google Scholar
Van Imhoff, E. and Henkens, K. 1995. Alternatieven voor de VUT: een scenario-analyse. Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute, The Hague.Google Scholar
Warr, P. B. 1984. Work and unemployment. In Drenth, P. J. D., Thierry, H. and De Wolff, C. J. (eds), Handbook of Work and Organisational Psychology. John Wiley & Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Zawadski, B. and Lazarsfeld, P. F. 1935. The psychological consequences of unemployment. Journal of Social Psychology, 6, 224–251.Google Scholar