Barriers to Later Retirement for Men: Physical Challenges of Work and Increases in the Full Retirement Age

Policy changes intended to delay retirements of older workers and extend their work lives may run up against barriers owing to rising physical challenges of work as people age. We examine whether physical challenges at work influence employment transitions of older male workers in the age range for which public policy is trying to extend work lives and whether older male workers are able to mitigate these challenges while still remaining employed. The evidence indicates that physical challenges pose a barrier to extending work lives, although some older male workers with physically demanding jobs are able to mitigate these demands—either at new jobs or with the same employer. Our findings suggest that greater accommodation of physical challenges faced by older workers would likely increase the success of policies intended to induce later retirement