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THE JOURNEY OF ADULTHOOD

Barbara R. Bjorklund

WORK AND RETIREMENT

Chapter 7

The Importance of Work in Adulthood

Jobs occupy significant part of people’s

lives

• Often determine where, how well we live

• Provide part of identity and self-esteem

• Over lifetime, job history constitute career

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Super’s Theory of

Career Development

Life-span/life-space theory:

Individuals develop careers in stages

Career decisions are not isolated from other

aspects of their lives.

Super’s Theory of

Career Development

Application in Career Counseling

Adult Career Concerns Inventory (ACCI)

Career Development Inventory (CDI)

Work Value Inventory (WVI)

Gender Differences in Career Patterns

Significantly more men work full time than women.

• Demographics.

• Biological and social factors (e.g., child

rearing).

Women tend to move in and out of full-time jobs

more.

Women work in part-time jobs more than men do.

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Do you know how…

gender differences are affected by

public policy?

Selecting a Career

Theories of career selection

Effects of gender

Family influences

Role of genetics

Theories of Career Selection

Holland: people seek work environments that

fit vocational interests.

Basic vocational interests:

Social

Investigative

Realistic

Enterprising

Artistic

Conventional

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Holland’s Types of People Based on

Vocational Interests

Theories of Career Selection

Marcia: career selection part of identity

achievement occurring in adolescence and

emerging adulthood.

Stages of career identity:

Diffusion

Foreclosure

Moratorium

Commitment

The Effects of Gender

Gender: major factor in career choice

Pink-collar jobs

STEM areas

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Why are young men and women still

choosing to pursue “his and hers”

jobs?

Family Influences

Families influence occupational choice

• Educational attainment

• Models of career choice within family

• Marital status of parents

Role of Genetics

• Cognitive strengths and physical abilities are

inherited.

• Impact of genetic influence affects gender

differences in occupation/career aspirations

and choice.

• Social welfare programs that promote equal

access to higher education highlight this

influence.

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Age Trends in Work Experiences

Job Performance

Job performance does not appear to change

significantly with age.

Ability/expertise trade-off may occur.

Job Training and Retraining

Older workforce

Career recycling

Nontraditional college students

Work and Personal Life

Work and the individual

Work and marriage

Work and parenthood

Work and caregiving for adult family members

Household labor

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Work and the Individual

Job burnout

Unemployment

Job insecurity

Work and Marriage

Work influences:

• Relationship commitment

• Contact with children

• Career path (gender differences)

Work and Parenthood

• Men tend to remain in the labor force while

women tend to move in and out of

employment due to factors such as family

obligations.

• Men may react to fatherhood with increased

workload and income.

• Parents’ work-related stress can affect family

well being.

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And so…

What recommendations does the APA

make for the family work intersection?

Let’s take a look at Table 7.3 and find out.

Work and Caregiving for Adult

Family Members

Women between ages of 40 and 60 often deal

with caregiving demands of older adults.

Financial situation, makeup of family,

caregiver’s health and resources, support

services available, and workplace conditions

all contribute to outcome.

Household Labor

What are the tasks of a family?

Who completes these tasks? Are there gender

differences?

How does this change when family members

work outside the home?

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Theories and Facts and Other Ideas

• We spend as many hours doing unpaid family

work as we spend doing paid job-related work.

• Women do more of this work than men (about

three times as much).

• Why?

• Gender-division model

• Relative resource model

• Specialization model

Retirement

Preparation

Gender difference: men prepare more often

than women and have less retirement income.

Timing

Age of retirement increasing worldwide.

Figure 7.4: The proportion of US adults in workforce

has increased slightly for older age groups over the

last two decades; trend expected to continue into

2014.

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Reasons for Retirement

Finances

Work-related value

Retirement-related value

Health

Family

Career Commitment

Leisure-Time Interests

Effects of Retirement

Figure 7.6: Sources of Income for US Population aged

65 and older

Retirement affects change in income for many people.

Retirement and Poverty

Statistics may be misleading.

• “Near poor” and age

• Ethnicity differences

• Feminization of poverty

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Changes in Residence

In regard to residence, many retirees move.

• Amenity move: climate recreation.

• Kinship move: close to children and familiar

surroundings.

• Institutional move: e.g., assisted living

arrangement.

• Seasonal migration

Nonstandard Exits from

the Labor Force

• Shunning retirement

• Returning to the workforce/second careers

• Gradual retirement and part-time work after

retirement

• Volunteer work

• Phased retirement

Gradual Retirement

Bridge job

Volunteer work

Phased retirement

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Chapter Review

1. For most adults, _____ is a lifelong pattern

of full-time and part-time work, time out for

family responsibilities and retraining, and

ultimately retirement pursuits.

2. The major theory in the field of vocational

psychology for decades has been the _____

theory of Donald Super

Chapter Review

3. There are gender differences in the typical

career paths of men and women. _____ are

less apt to work full time, more apt to move

in and out of the labor force, and more apt to

work part time.

4. The best-known theory of career selection is

that of _____, who suggests that people are

happiest in job environments that fit their

vocational interests.

Chapter Review

5. ____is a time of identity achievement, as

young people go through the stages of

identity diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium

and commitment, with career decisions

being a large part of this identity.

6. _____ is a big factor in career selection.

Both men and women tend to select careers

that are stereotypically defined as

appropriate.

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Chapter Review

7. Although physical, sensory, and cognitive declines

accompany age, measures of actual job

performance show no age-related declines. One

explanation is that the _____ of older adults

compensates for decline in abilities.

8. _____can have negative effects on the individual,

including burnout, but not having a job can be even

worse.

Chapter Review

9. _____ seems to increase work performance and

goals for both men and women.

10. Men are apt to work _____ hours the more children

they have.

Chapter Review

11.There are many factors that influence the

decision to _____. Among them are

finances, health, family, career commitment,

and leisure-time interests.

12._____ ways to leave the labor force include

shunning retirement, taking a less stressful

job, working part time, and working as a

volunteer.