ABSTRACT
Extending working lives was one of the key objectives of the so-called Lisbon strategy in 2000 and still is an integral part of the European Employment Strategy. It has also been seen by successive Dutch cabinets as part of the answer to the aging of the labor market and the challenge of keeping the social welfare state affordable. The prolongation of working life after retirement is one example of how this policy objective can be realized. For society at large, the willingness of experienced older adults to work beyond retirement age provides a valuable resource. The key to capitalizing on this resource is to understand older workers’ work-retirement decisions. In this chapter, the focus is on the Netherlands. We will examine the extent to which older adults in the Netherlands continue to participate actively in the labor market after they have retired, and what factors determine this engagement in paid work after retirement.
