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Open research questions in Retirement, Disability, and Employment

483 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 4,198 Retirement, Disability, and Employment papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.

What the literature leaves open

  • Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations are made: i. The Niger State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and the Teaching Service Board should institutionalize comprehensive pre-retirement counselling programmes for teachers at least five years before their expected retirement to enhance psychological preparedness and reduce retirement anxiety. ii. Professional counsellors should provide continuous counselling services focusing on stress management, emotional resilience, healthy ageing, retirement adjustment, and adaptive coping strategies for teachers approaching retirement. iii. Educational authorities, pension administrators, and financial experts should organize regular investment, literacy workshops covering pension management, personal financial entrepreneurship, budgeting, and post-retirement income planning. iv. School administrators should strengthen workplace wellness programmes through periodic medical examinations, health education campaigns, physical fitness initiatives, and stress management interventions to promote teachers’ physical well-being. v. Teachers should be encouraged to participate in continuous professional development, lifelong learning, mentoring, educational consultancy, community service, and intellectually stimulating activities to preserve cognitive well-being before and after retirement. vi. The National Pension Commission (PenCom) and relevant state pension agencies should improve the efficiency, transparency, and timeliness of pension processing and benefit https://akasa.com.ng Vol. 5 Issue 4, 2026 Copyright © 2026 AKASA All Rights Reserved

    Relationship amongst retirement anxiety, physical and cognitive well-being of senior secondary schools teachers in Niger state, Nigeria · 2026 · DOI

  • However, little is known to what extent employment potentials have already been realised, and what differences exist between socio-economic groups.

    Trends in Working Life Expectancy and Untapped Employment Potential in an Ageing Population: The Case of Germany · 2026 · DOI

  • The findings will provide valuable insights for policymakers and financial institutions to develop targeted interventions, while also identifying research gaps that can guide future studies to refine approaches and explore understudied areas.

    Protocol: Psychological Factors of Financial Planning for Retirement in Working-Age Adults: A Scoping Review · 2026 · DOI

  • Although chronological age is frequently included as a demographic control variable, comparatively few studies have examined its direct association with work engagement in the Indian employment context.

    Chronological age and work engagement among Indian employees: a structural equation modeling study · 2026 · DOI

  • Background Retirement has rarely been studied in Arab society, despite its growing relevance due to significant shifts in family roles, gender norms, and social structures.

    Relational Turbulence Among Retired Couples in Arab Society: An APIM Analysis · 2025 · DOI

  • BACKGROUND: Despite growing interest in population aging and extended working lives, little is known in developing countries about people's quality of working life and their capacity to work for longer years when approaching retirement age.

    Population-based estimates of healthy working life expectancy in China · 2025 · DOI

  • Despite the growing number of migrants in Europe, little is known about their attitudes towards state pension.

    Understanding migrants' attitudes towards state pension: The role of length of stay and settlement intention · 2024 · DOI

  • Background Lifelong singlehood has become increasingly common over the past five decades, although little is known about the economic security of never married older adults relative to their currently and formerly married peers.

    Gender differences in the economic consequences of life‐long singlehood among older white U.S. adults · 2024 · DOI

  • However, a comprehensive overview of the socioeconomic differences in WLE is lacking.

    Socioeconomic differences in working life expectancy: a scoping review · 2024 · DOI

  • Despite growing interest in the determinants of continued work among retirees, the internal (psychological) factors influencing an individual’s decision to retire after reaching retirement age have been inadequately studied.

    The influence of subjective age and temporal focus on continuing work of the retireess: a psychological perspective · 2024 · DOI

  • An employee’s annual elective contribution under a tax-sheltered annuity program is limited to the greater of $9,500 or the cap on 401(k) salary reductions (currently $7,000) as indexed for inflation (Emst & Whinney 1986, p.

    Incentive early retirement programs: Concepts and definitions · 1987 · DOI

  • Future research could address the limitations of the current study by using longitudinal data or linking survey data to administrative turnover records. Qualitative or mixed-methods approaches may deepen understanding of how employees interpret organizational support and which practices they find most meaningful. Examining variations across agencies, missions, or occupational roles could clarify contextual differences in support climates.

    Retention of Early-Career Federal Employees: The Role of Organizational Support and Satisfaction · 2026 · DOI

  • independently driving retention attitudes. Third, Several limitations should be considered when interpreting these findings. The use of cross-sectional FEVS data limits causal inference in several important respects. First, the design precludes establishing temporal ordering among POS, ES, and TI; longitudinal data would be necessary to confirm that organizational support precedes satisfaction, which in turn precedes withdrawal cognitions, as the theoretical model implies. Second, reverse causation cannot be ruled out—employees with lower turnover intention may report higher POS and ES due to motivated reasoning or identity-consistent responding, rather than support and satisfaction the concurrent measurement of all constructs introduces the possibility of unmeasured culture, occupational role, or mission salience may simultaneously shape POS, ES, and TI in ways the present design cannot isolate. Finally, because POS is measured at the same time point as ES and TI, endogeneity remains a concern—satisfaction may influence how employees perceive and report organizational support, rather than the reverse. Organizational Support Theory provides a theoretically grounded basis for treating POS as antecedent to satisfaction (Eisenberger et al., 2020), but the cross-sectional design cannot adjudicate between competing causal orderings. Future research employing longitudinal FEVS waves, administrative linkage to actual turnover records, or quasi-experimental designs leveraging agencylevel policy variation would offer stronger grounds for causal interpretation. third-variable confounding; agency-level Beyond causal inference concerns, POS, ES, and TI were derived from items not originally designed as standalone scales. Although psychometric analyses supported construct validity, purpose-built measures could RETENTION OF EARLY-CAREER FEDERAL EMPLOYEES 1231 improve precision. A related psychometric limitation concerns the degree of construct overlap between POS and ES in the present measurement model. Although confirmatory factor analysis supported a two-factor structure with all indicators loading significantly on their hypothesized constructs, average variance extracted (AVE) for both POS (.548) and ES (.636) fell below the squared inter-construct correlation (.796), indicating that the Fornell-Larcker criterion for discriminant validity was not met (Fornell & Larcker, 1981). This pattern is consistent with the high standardized path coefficient observed between POS and ES (β =.97) and reflects a known limitation of secondary survey data not designed to operationalize theoretically distinct constructs. The FEVS items used to approximate POS and ES capture related facets of the employee experience—support, development opportunity, and satisfaction—which share substantial conceptual terrain. Composite reliability was strong for both constructs (ω =.926 for POS; ω =.929 for ES), indicating that each scale measured its intended domain consistently; however, the construct overlap limits the precision with which POS and ES can be treated as fully independent latent variables. Future research should employ purpose-built measures administered under conditions that reduce shared method variance to more rigorously test the independence of these constructs. recognition, The single-item measure of TI may underrepresent the complexity of turnover decision-making, and the binary age grouping (<40 vs. ≥40) simplifies career-stage dynamics. Lastly, model modifications were guided by theoretical rationale and prior FEVS research; however, the large to minor misspecifications, and cross-validation in future samples would strengthen confidence in model specification.

    Retention of Early-Career Federal Employees: The Role of Organizational Support and Satisfaction · 2026 · DOI

  • The long-term co-developmental patterns of work productivity and multidimensional health remain insufficiently understood. The associations between childhood socioeconomic status and trajectory membership are not well understood.

    Life-course Trajectories of Work Productivity and Multidimensional Health: A Longitudinal Study of Childhood Socioeconomic Conditions in Aging Adults · 2026 · DOI

  • Limited number of case managers restricts the effective implementation of the intended support model. The study only examines the situation of older jobseekers in Lithuania. The study relies on self-reported data from interviews.

    The Impact of the ‘Preparing for the Labour Market’ Status on the Employment Prospects of Older Jobseekers of the Lithuanian Employment Service · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of understanding of the PPLM status among older jobseekers. The limited availability of tailored services to address the specific needs of older jobseekers.

    The Impact of the ‘Preparing for the Labour Market’ Status on the Employment Prospects of Older Jobseekers of the Lithuanian Employment Service · 2026 · DOI

  • Demographic aging will reduce the size of the labor force and increase the economically dependent share of the population. Labor force participation disparities across gender and racial or ethnic groups need to be addressed.

    The power of inclusive labor force participation for mitigating population aging: Closing gaps at the intersection between race/ethnicity and gender in the United States · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the literature by not considering demographic factors in labor force participation. The study highlights the importance of reducing labor force participation disparities across gender and racial or ethnic groups.

    The power of inclusive labor force participation for mitigating population aging: Closing gaps at the intersection between race/ethnicity and gender in the United States · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should continue to monitor pension adequacy and sustainability in Slovenia. Future research should also explore the implications of demographic ageing and fiscal constraints for pension systems. Future research should consider the potential impact of policy interventions on pension adequacy and sustainability.

    Retiree Dynamics in Slovenia and the Adequacy of Minimum Pensions in Relation to GDP · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in the literature on pension adequacy and sustainability in Slovenia. The study notes that prior research has focused on the life-cycle income hypothesis and the redistributive function of pension systems, but has not comprehensively analyzed pension adequacy and sustainability in Slovenia.

    Retiree Dynamics in Slovenia and the Adequacy of Minimum Pensions in Relation to GDP · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a need to examine the quality of life of SSNIT pensioners in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The study aims to address the gap in the literature on the quality of life of pensioners.

    Post-retirement Quality of Life: Insights from SSNIT Pensioners in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana · 2026 · DOI

  • The sudden shift to remote work and accelerated adoption of new technologies - The impact of digitalization on retirement decisions - The need to distinguish between voluntary and involuntary retirement exits

    Retirement decisions in the age of COVID-19 pandemic: are older employees in digital occupations working longer? · 2026 · DOI

  • The data do not allow distinguishing between voluntary and involuntary retirement exits. The study cannot formally differentiate between supply-and demand-side factors influencing retirement decisions. The analysis is limited to dependent employees, excluding self-employed workers.

    Retirement decisions in the age of COVID-19 pandemic: are older employees in digital occupations working longer? · 2026 · DOI

  • The study's sample size was limited to 10 older adults. The perspectives of racialised older workers were limited in the study. The study did not explicitly aim to centre racialised experiences.

    "I’m not a quiet woman": an intersectional analysis of gender, class, and ageism in the Canadian workplace · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of research on the intersectional nature of ageism in the workplace. Prior studies have tended to focus on the biological aspects of ageing or on quantifying instances of ageism.

    "I’m not a quiet woman": an intersectional analysis of gender, class, and ageism in the Canadian workplace · 2026 · DOI

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483 open questions have been extracted from the limitations and future-work passages of 4,198 Retirement, Disability, and Employment papers in our library. Each one below links back to the study that raised it, so you can read the original claim in context.

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