As a result of declining birth rates and increasing life expectancy, the average age of the global population is increasing. This demographic trend has important implications for the labor market. Aging individuals are not always able to find satisfactory outlets for their abilities. Moreover, finding sufficient funds to maintain the current level of pension and health-care benefits is a major concern for many countries.
Starting a Business Can Increase Older Workers’ Quality of Life (Even When It Doesn’t Pay Well)
As the global population ages, it is increasingly important to find ways to support people late in their careers. Researchers studied late-career workers who switched into entrepreneurship, comparing them with workers who stayed in their jobs and workers who switched into new jobs. They looked at how happiness and life quality changed for each set of workers, finding that those who switched into entrepreneurship experienced a markedly higher increase in quality of life. They also found that these workers had a significant reduction in income, which was not true of the other groups. Previous research in this area has focused exclusively on income, which does not give a full picture of the benefits of late-career switches to entrepreneurship. The researchers say that late-career moves are not always about money, and that governments should find ways to support people who want to move into entrepreneurship.