Job loss and employment patterns of older workers

This article uses data from the Health and Retirement Study to examine the employment patterns of workers aged 50 and above who have experienced an in voluntary job loss. Hazard models for returning to work and for exiting pos tdisplacement employment are estimated and used to examine work patterns fo r 10 years following a job loss. Our findings show that a job loss results in large and lasting effects on future employment probabilities. Four years after job losses at age 55, the employment rate of displaced workers remai ns 20 percentage points below the employment rate of similar nondisplaced w orkers.