European Policy Analysis Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2016 | Page 81

European Policy Analysis

to Eurostat, 83.4% of temporary employed
Bulgarians and 62% of Estonians in age
55–74 couldn’t find permanent job. So
even if the limited contract ensures more
instability in the labor market, it can
encourage employees to work longer after
retirement.

Job security, the type of
organization, and the type of employment
contract show that, in the Central and
Eastern European countries, there is still
some space for policy instruments related
to the higher employment protection of
older employees.

Unlimited

Limited

No contract

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%
LT

LT

EE

EE

HU

HU

PL

PL

SK

SK

CZ

CZ

SI

SI

BG

BG

Wanted to Preferred Wanted to Preferred Wanted to Preferred Wanted to Preferred Wanted to Preferred Wanted to Preferred Wanted to Preferred Wanted to Preferred
retire
to continue
retire
to continue
retire
to continue
retire
to continue
retire
to continue
retire
to continue
retire
to continue
retire
to continue
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
in paid
work
work
work
work
work
work
work
work

Figure 4. Wanted to retire and preferred to continue in paid work by the type of the
contract (%, ESS5)

Working Conditions

to retire. The results from Poland confirm
the findings from Szubert and Sobala
(2005) about overtime work as a risk
factor for early retirement.
However,
there
are
two
exceptions—respondents who work for
longer hours in Slovenia and Hungary
are willing to stay in the labor market for
longer duration. This may be related to the
previous topic of the well-paid job as the
level of the incomes from work in these
countries was higher among the analyzed
countries. So we assume that in order
to get higher incomes, the population
of these countries is ready to meet more
demanding working conditions, such as
slightly longer work hours.

Income from work. In general, the
importance of high income from work
is seen in all analyzed countries for both
groups of respondents. The respondents
from Bulgaria, Estonia, and Slovenia
preferred to continue in paid work, and
they pointed out that high income is
important for choosing a job. Hence, low
wages and also low retirement provision
in these countries are the constraining
obstacles for the decision to work.

Hours worked. The respondents
from Poland and Slovenia work longer
hours per week (more than 45). In Central
and Eastern European countries, those
who work overtime, in general, preferred
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