Job satisfaction at older ages: A comparative analysis of Hungarian and German data

BACKGROUND: As a response to population aging, reforms to increase the statutory retirement age and closing options for early retirement have been introduced in many European countries. This study analyzed the job satisfaction of employees in two countries with markedly different speeds of pension reforms. The German reform started in 1992 and abolished almost all options of early retirement. The Hungarian reforms started later and were completed only by 2011. Therefore, it is expected that older Hungarian workers were initially more satisfied with their jobs than similarly aged German workers. OBJECTIVE: The hypothesis was tested that older workers in a regulatory environment with accessible pathways to early retirement are on average relatively more satisfied with their job than older workers in a country with few and financially less advantageous options for early retirement. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This study used data from the European Working Conditions Surveys. Waves 2005 and 2010 represent years when early retirement pathways were abolished in Germany, while the Hungarian system offered a variety of pathways for early retirement. This is not the case in 2015 having tight regulations in both countries. Logit regressions were estimated using job satisfaction as an dependent variable and a variety of control variables were introduced step by step. RESULTS: The results from 2005 and 2010 indicate that older Hungarian employees are relatively more content with their job than similarly aged German workers. In 2015 this trend was reversed. CONCLUSION: It would be crucial to provide the opportunity and appropriate working conditions for older employees to work if they voluntarily opt for working longer. They seem to be an especially motivated pool of employees, and could productively contribute to decreasing the financial burdens caused by the demographic changes. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1007/s00391-019-01547-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.