A UOC research study calls for new models that improve the transition to retirement

With the increase in quality of life and the decline in population in the western world, how retirement is approached by people who are coming to the end of their active working lives and the maintenance of the pension system by the authorities have become priorities for society and governments.

In this context, a study led by experts at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) in collaboration with the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona shows that to date, the initiatives that business and government have adopted in this area fall far short of fulfilling the demands required in this period of life. "The proposals related to retirement have not been clearly and directly transferred or applied by the main parties involved, such as individuals, organizations and governments," says Clara Selva Olid, an expert belonging to the UOC's Psychology and Educational Sciences research group, and the main author of this study, which she carried out with the researchers Maite Martínez-González and María Naqui Esteve.

Although there is extensive scientific and social literature on retirement, no procedures or forms of management have yet been developed to enable social and political progress concerning how talent is managed in this new period of life. "Despite the many studies that have been carried out advocating measures such as gradual retirement, which is also known as progressive or cushioned retirement, if there is no appropriate response from the professional and organizational world, they might as well not exist," points out Clara Selva.

Social demands

The social demands made by people who are in this stage of their life include making personal decisions about when to retire, promoting self-knowledge with greater education for leisure, and enhancing social support activities that foster the establishment of new and solid social networks which enable them to develop feelings of usefulness and importance in today's society.

However, their needs may be diverse, and depend on various factors, including the individual's interests, expectations, health, gender and their personal, social and economic situation.

"The social coverage of these demands is clearly insufficient, as evidenced by the lack of clear preparations, programmes and protocols to help people plan for retirement. You simply have to consider that at present, most organizations still do not have any plans to prepare their employees for retirement, or looking at it from another perspective, only one in five Spaniards believe that their organization provides information and help with retirement planning," explains Selva.

Spain's population aged over 64 years old is going to increase in the short term. Moreover, in the current context, the government's pension system is facing an annual shortfall of 1.5% of GDP, which raises a number of doubts about the current model's sustainability. "In the near future there will be more people approaching retirement than there are in 2021, which means the pension system is undoubtedly exposed to a demographic risk," warns the researcher.

Measures for the future

Spain is ranked among the bottom positions in preparing people for retirement, according to the latest research and demographic surveys. The scenario involves a complete lack of the preparations needed to cope with retirement in today's society.

In this context, the authors of this study point out that the first key aspect to consider is the importance of raising awareness and increasing information about the needs of people who are in this period of their lives. "It is important that we perform a personal reading, based on self-knowledge, about what we want when we reach retirement and as a consequence, we get ready to accept and manage the new free time that we are going to have," Selva points out.

It is therefore vital to cultivate different roles other than work, and to take part in social activities that will take place in retirement. This limits the feelings of low self-esteem that many people experience when they retire. "Doing voluntary work, where people can occupy positions of responsibility, is a way for people to plan their retirement, and find a role similar to the one they had in their working lives, while doing other tasks. These types of activities can help us feel useful and important, and establish strong new social relationships," says Selva.

As for measures by companies and organizations, the authors focus on models that allow retirement to be delayed or to be made more flexible by means of structural changes which accommodate people who add value despite their age, as well as recognising and dealing with workers' expectations apart from those of a purely financial nature, and negotiating alternatives before talent is lost due to retirement.

Finally, the authors call for the design of retirement preparation programmes that, by focusing on the significant objectives and goals that people wish to achieve, increase decisions about early retirement. These programmes should be carried out not only because people could benefit from specific conditions, but also because it would allow them to redirect their lives towards other activities. The current policies based on uniform measures must be rethought, and make way for the management of diversity and the varying needs and desires of today's society.

"Society is calling for a change in the government's attitude to retirement, so that it adapts to today's society and the needs of different groups. As a result, governments must begin to be the main actors in this process, and enable more gradual and less traumatic ways of stopping work that improve satisfaction in this stage of life," concludes Clara Selva about the stance that national governments should adopt in the immediate future.

This UOC research contributes to sustainable development goals (SDG) 3, Good health and well-being, and 8, Decent work and economic growth.

Reference

Selva Olid, Clara; Martínez-González, Maite; Naqui Esteve, Maria. "El inicio del fin de una etapa: la jubilación". Athenea Digital. Revista de pensamiento e investigación social, vol. 21, no. 2 (2021), p. 2756. DOI 10.5565/rev/athenea.2756 https://ddd.uab.cat/record/243519

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