Sustainable aging at work: a process framework for capability, choice and work–retirement transitions in the Nordic–Baltic region
5 affiliations
- 1Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
- 2Statistics Unit, Rīga Stradiņš University, Riga, Latvia
- 3Faculty of Social Work, University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland
- 4Institute of Psychology, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
- 5School of Governance, Law and Society, Estonian Institute for Population Studies, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
Abstract
Population aging has intensified interest in extending working lives, yet employment at older ages is not in itself evidence of sustainable aging at work. This article develops a Sustainable Aging-at-Work Alignment Framework that conceptualizes later-life work and retirement as a dynamic process shaped by the interaction of individual capabilities and preferences, workplace demands and resources, and institutional opportunities and constraints. Alignment or misalignment among these conditions influences transition mechanisms through which people may be pushed or pulled toward retirement, choose to stay, remain because alternatives are constrained, or move toward valued non-work goals. These mechanisms give rise to different work–retirement trajectories whose sustainability is evaluated over time in relation to health, psychological wellbeing, autonomy and meaningful choice. The framework draws on successful aging at work, person–environment fit, job demands–resources, work ability, sustainable employability, capability and retirement-transition perspectives, while linking them to the substantive availability of retirement alternatives. Ageism operates across individual, workplace and institutional levels and can shape both perceived capabilities and objective opportunities. The Nordic–Baltic region provides a theoretically informative setting because common demographic pressures coexist with substantial differences in pension adequacy, retirement flexibility, labor-market institutions and late-career opportunities. Five propositions address cross-level alignment, work ability and job demands, digital adaptation, unequal access to flexibility, and the translation of retirement intentions into voluntary or constrained transitions. The framework shifts attention from employment duration alone to the processes, degree of choice and longer-term consequences that characterize later-life work and retirement trajectories.
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BibTeX
@article{reine2026sustainable,
title = {{Sustainable aging at work: a process framework for capability, choice and work–retirement transitions in the Nordic–Baltic region}},
author = {Ieva Reine and Kolbeinn H. Stefánsson and Raimonda Sadauskaitė and Antanas Kairys and Olga Zamalijeva and Madara Miķelsone and Olga Rajevska and Luule Sakkeus and Halldór S. Guðmundsson},
journal = {Frontiers in Psychology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1988720},
url = {https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1988720},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Sustainable aging at work: a process framework for capability, choice and work–retirement transitions in the Nordic–Baltic region
AU - Ieva Reine
AU - Kolbeinn H. Stefánsson
AU - Raimonda Sadauskaitė
AU - Antanas Kairys
AU - Olga Zamalijeva
AU - Madara Miķelsone
AU - Olga Rajevska
AU - Luule Sakkeus
AU - Halldór S. Guðmundsson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/21
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1988720
UR - https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1988720
AB - Population aging has intensified interest in extending working lives, yet employment at older ages is not in itself evidence of sustainable aging at work. This article develops a Sustainable Aging-at-Work Alignment Framework that conceptualizes later-life work and retirement as a dynamic process shaped by the interaction of individual capabilities and preferences, workplace demands and resources, and institutional opportunities and constraints. Alignment or misalignment among these conditions influences transition mechanisms through which people may be pushed or pulled toward retirement, choose to stay, remain because alternatives are constrained, or move toward valued non-work goals. These mechanisms give rise to different work–retirement trajectories whose sustainability is evaluated over time in relation to health, psychological wellbeing, autonomy and meaningful choice. The framework draws on successful aging at work, person–environment fit, job demands–resources, work ability, sustainable employability, capability and retirement-transition perspectives, while linking them to the substantive availability of retirement alternatives. Ageism operates across individual, workplace and institutional levels and can shape both perceived capabilities and objective opportunities. The Nordic–Baltic region provides a theoretically informative setting because common demographic pressures coexist with substantial differences in pension adequacy, retirement flexibility, labor-market institutions and late-career opportunities. Five propositions address cross-level alignment, work ability and job demands, digital adaptation, unequal access to flexibility, and the translation of retirement intentions into voluntary or constrained transitions. The framework shifts attention from employment duration alone to the processes, degree of choice and longer-term consequences that characterize later-life work and retirement trajectories.
SN - 1664-1078
ER -