Benjamin Malczyk and Dr. Jeremy Yorgason, School of Family Life
Purpose
Although there are many studies examining couple’s financial preparation for retirement, there are relatively few examining how couples expect to use their time in retirement. This does not undermine the importance of how coupes plan to use their time. Research has shown that leisure time usage was a bigger challenge than finances for retired couples (Henry, Milller, & Giarrusso, 2005). Our research examined how middle-aged couples planned to spend their time in retirement and to answer three specific questions: 1. What do midlife couples plan to do when they retire? 2. Do wives and husbands have the same plans about how they will spend their leisure time? 3. What factors predict husband and wife congruence in retirement plans.
Sample
Participants were a subset of the sample in the Flourishing Families Project, a longitudinal study of more than 500 families living in a northwest city. The sample used in the current study consisted of 336 two-parent families and had responses from both the mother and the father.
Method
Each individual in the study was asked what they planned to do following retirement, as well as other pertinent questions and demographic questions. The open ended answers were coded into nine specific categories: travel, spend time with family and/or friends, volunteer, work (either continue working full time, work part time, or start a second career), spend time on hobbies (gardening, read, art, etc.), rest and relax, give church-related service, don’t know yet, or can’t retire or don’t plan on retiring. It was common for respondents to report multiple plans for retirement that fit into different categories. For example, a respondent might report that in retirement they plan to travel to spend time with family, spend time gardening, and volunteer at a local school. These nine specific categories were collapsed into four general groups for statistical analysis (see Table 1 for wife and husband retirement plan category frequencies).
Then using a statistic called an intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) we computed if couples actually had similar answers. Then using other variables related to retirement we examined which other factors influence whether or not couples had similar plans.
Results
1. What do midlife couples plan to do when they retire?- See Table 1
Approximately 2/3 of our sample expect to spend time in leisure activities. About 1/3 plan to spend time in some sort of volunteerism. Perhaps due to economic uncertainty 1/3 of husbands and 1/6 of wives reported that they would continue to work. The 10 percent of husbands and wives who reported “don’t know” could also be a reflection of economic uncertainty and feeling unsure about if and when they will be able to retire.
2. Do wives and husbands have the same plans about how they will spend their leisure time?
Although previous research has suggested that couples’ use of time in retirement has been a source of conflict, our findings showed that mid-life couples generally had some agreement as to how they would spend their time. In fact, 25% of our sample reported very high levels of agreement with an ICC above .80.
3. What factors predict husband and wife congruence of retirement plans?
Our findings indicate that there are three main predictors of couples having similar plans for retirement.
First, couples in which the wife reports higher levels of marital quality are more likely to have congruent plans. Our explanation for this is that perhaps wives who report higher levels of marital quality may be more likely to have good communication with their partners which would lead to higher congruence. It could also be that wives who report higher levels of marital quality are looking forward to retirement and as a result have discussed their expectations of retirement.
Second, couples, in which the husband has more education, are more likely to have similar plans. One explanation for this may be that husbands’ education could be a predictor of overall SES of the family. Those in a higher SES, perhaps feel that they must fit into a scripted role of planning how to use their time in retirement and have scripted answers like travelling. Perhaps men with lower levels of education would be in a lower SES and may not be as likely to discuss retirement plans because of economic uncertainty.
Third, we found that couples in which the husband believes he will be receiving social security benefits upon retiring are also more likely to have similar answers. Perhaps men who have a belief in social security are more conscious of their retirement plans and are discussing it more with their wives. Those who don’t believe in social security perhaps are not too concerned or conscious of their plans for retirement.
Having answered these three questions we felt that we were able to add to previous research. Previous research often looks at finances or other aspects of retirement, but not often does it look specifically at plans that each spouse has. Another aspect that our research adds to previous research is that the sample is of middle aged couples and hopefully because of the longitudinal nature of our study we could continue to follow these couples into retirement.
The Experience
The opportunity to do this research has been helpful in many facets and has taught me many skills and valuable lessons. I previously worked for the Flourishing Families Project gathering the data. The opportunity to do the research helped me see the process from start to finish. I helped collect the data, I helped code the data, I was able to help input the data, do some analysis and come up with interpretations to the data. Seeing this process from start to finish helped me gain appreciation for the work that goes into evidence based knowledge and the overall scientific process. I was also able to see how research can build off of other research and lead to greater knowledge and learning.