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Unpublished Paper
Contract Work at Older Ages
External Papers and Reports
  • Katharine G. Abraham, University of Maryland
  • Brad J. Hershbein, W.E Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
  • Susan N. Houseman, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research
Publication Date
1-1-2020
Series
National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 26612
Abstract

The share of workers who are self-employed rises markedly with age. Given policy concerns about inadequate retirement savings, especially among those with lower education, and the resulting interest in encouraging employment at older ages, it is important to understand the role that self-employment arrangements play in facilitating work among seniors. New data from a survey module fielded on a Gallup telephone survey distinguish independent contractor work from other self-employment and provide information on informal and online platform work. The Gallup data show that, especially after accounting for individuals who are miscoded as employees, self-employment is even more prevalent at older ages than suggested by existing data. Work as an independent contractor is the most common type of self-employment. Roughly one-quarter of independent contractors age 50 and older work for a former employer. At older ages, self-employment generally—and work as an independent contractor specifically—is more common among the highly educated, accounting for much of the difference in employment rates across education groups. We provide suggestive evidence that differences in opportunities for independent contractor work play an important role in the lower employment rates of less-educated older adults.

Publisher
National Bureau of Economic Research
DOI
10.3386/w26612
Published Version
In Journal of Pension Economics & Finance 20(3): 426-447
Issue Date
January 2020
Sponsorship
The research reported herein was performed pursuant to grant RDR18000003 from the US Social Security Administration (SSA) funded as part of the Retirement and Disability Research Consortium. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation, and the Sloan Foundation provided additional support for this project.
Citation Information
Abraham, Katharine G., Susan N. Houseman, and Brad J. Hershbein. 2020. "Contract Work at Older Ages." National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 26612. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.