Post-Retirement Jobs and End-of-Careers : A Comparative Analysis Between Men and Women

Given the policies adopted by the Québec government as many others to extend participation in the labour market, but also to the sometimes limited pension incomes, many persons often need to extend their working life. However, some also decide to extend their working life, as they find employment stimulating and interesting. We decided to look into this situation and compare men and women’s situation along these lines.

Our research is based first on an online questionnaire for which we received over 109 responses, and it was completed by 34 interviews. This presentation will be based on some of the quantitative data comparing men and women, as well as on the interviews, which will make it possible to better understand and compare the situations of men and women at the end of their career and in return to work for post-retirement jobs. Our presentation will expose the motivations as well as the impacts of post-retirement work, the transition to retirement conditions as well as the conditions of return to employment (training and other issues). Amongst other results, our research shows that persons who return to employment are not only looking for more income, although this is important for some, but they are often also looking for social contacts and want to remain “active”. The context of “active ageing” policies may partly explain the motivations of workers to stay active in employment, as well as in physical activity, as some mentioned.