THE OLDER UNEMPLOYED WORKER’S CONUNDRUM IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND SLOVAKIA: FIND A JOB OR LEAVE THE LABOUR MARKET?

• Authors: Flek Vladislav , Hála Martin , Mysíková Martina
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

We analyse labour market prospects of unemployed Czechs and Slovaks aged 50 – 65. Those aged 55 and over face the most diminished opportunities for re-employment and the strongest incentives to withdraw from the labour force. Women and individuals in poor health also fall into strongly disadvantaged/ discouraged subcategories. Education levels or regional economic conditions do not significantly affect the re-employment odds. While these trends are similar in both countries, older Czechs face a lower probability of remaining unemployed, due to more frequent use of labour force withdrawals as an exit from unemployment. More frequent withdrawals occur in all subcategories of older unemployed Czechs, and can be observed after any comparable unemployment duration. The probability of re-employment of older Czechs and Slovaks is equivalent early in an unemployment spell, but becomes higher for older Slovaks after the fifth month of unemployment, even for those aged 60+. We suspect that the higher pensionable age in the Czech Republic is unlikely to function as a strong push factor to return to employment. We also point to the shorter duration of unemployment benefits for older Slovaks, which may encourage more job-finding effort.

Keywords

EN

OLDER-AGE UNEMPLOYMENT; RE-EMPLOYMENT; CZECH REPUBLIC; SLOVAKIA

• Publisher: Institute of Slovak and World Economics and Institute for Forecasting, Slovak Academy of Sciences
• Journal: Ekonomický časopis (Journal of Economics)
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 68
• Issue: 6
• Pages: 541 – 562

Contributors

author

Flek Vladislav

• ŠKODA AUTO University, Department of Economics and Law, Na Karmeli 1457, 293 01 Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic

author

Hála Martin

author

Mysíková Martina