Leaving Retirement: Age-Graded Relative Risks of Transitioning Back to Work or Dying

Ben Kail, Duke University

Prior demographic research has documented the age-graded risk of transitioning back to work after a period of retirement; however, few studies have disaggregated this risk relative to the different forms work takes in later life. Moreover, current research has yet to explore the age-graded risk of re-retiring after returning to work. This research uses the 1992-2006 Health and Retirement Study to first examine the age-grade risks of transitioning to part time work, full time work, partial retirement, and mortality from full retirement. Second, this research documents the age-graded duration of reemployment, and the age-graded risk of re-retiring. Results suggest that the risks of reversing retirement are indeed contingent upon the form of work to which one transitions. Moreover, the results also point to surprising stability in the age-graded risks of re-retiring, but substantial variability in the age-graded duration of reemployment.