Successful Aging among Bridge Employment Workers

As life expectancy rates expand and health care advancements continue to improve, countless older workers have the capacity to work in older age, and many are opting to participate in bridge employment rather than full retirement (Topa, Alcover, Moriano, & Depolo, 2014). Due to this surge in bridge employment participation, there has been an increased interest in the topic (Müller, De Lange, Weigl, Oxfart, & Van der Heijden, 2013; Munnell & Sass, 2008; Topa et al., 2014; Zhan, Wang, Liu, & Shultz, 2009). Therefore, the current study attempts to explore the experience of aging among the population of individuals who have elected to participate in bridge employment. In the current study, two of the most commonly used theoretical perspectives of successful aging: continuity theory, and resource-based dynamic theory, have been examined. Using this integrated perspective, the current study has attempts to explain the relationships between subjective socioeconomic status continuity and individual resources, and their impact on the change of successful aging over time among bridge employment workers. The analyses were conducted on data from a panel dataset collected by the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). This dataset included a large representative sample of U.S. older adults and used a longitudinal design. The analyses revealed that continuity theory is a suitable theoretical perspective to use when investigating the change of successful aging among bridge employment workers. Additionally, continuity in subjective socioeconomic status was found to have a significant, positive relationship with the level of successful aging among bridge employment workers and the change of successful aging over time. The results from the current study underscore the importance of stability in one’s sense of standing in the social hierarchy and its impact of successful aging among this population.

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