Premises and Conditions for the Professional Activity of Seniors from the Eastern Poland Macroregion

Danuta Guzal-Dec and Natalia Jaskiewicz

European Research Studies Journal, 2025, vol. XXVIII, issue 4, 446-458

Abstract: Purpose: The aim of this article is to examine the premises and conditions for professional activity among older people, using the example of seniors from the Eastern Poland macroregion. The analysis takes into account the institutional, economic, social and psychological determinants of continuing employment and entrepreneurship in the 60+ and 65+ age groups. The theoretical introduction provides a broader overview of the premises and conditions for the professional activity of seniors in the European Union. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study combines a literature review with a comparative analysis of the results of international empirical research and regional studies in Poland. The literature review primarily takes into account key reports and articles published after 2020. Own empirical research was conducted in 2021 in three provinces of the Eastern Poland macroregion (Podlaskie, Lubelskie, Podkarpackie) on a sample of 403 pensioners. The selection of participants for the study was deliberate. The researchers' assumption was to include in the sample pensioners who were looking for work or had taken up employment, but also those who were not interested in taking up work. The research problem was formulated: what are the reasons and conditions for the professional activity of seniors from the Eastern Poland macroregion? Findings: The results of the synthesis indicate that the professional activity of seniors is determined by the structure of pension systems, the level of social security, access to training and lifelong learning, health status and access to care, as well as cultural and structural barriers such as ageism and the lack of flexible job offers. The results of a survey conducted among pensioners living in the Eastern Poland macroregion confirm that the main reason that would prompt the respondents to delay their decision to retire was the need to earn a higher pension. The research confirms the low level of professional activity among people of retirement age, including entrepreneurship, and at the same time points to a sense of untapped professional potential. The factors influencing the respondents' decisions to retire differ depending on gender. Delaying retirement requires offering more flexible forms of employment. Practical implications: The article proposes recommendations for public policies and local practices that can increase the employability of seniors and support entrepreneurship among older people. It points to the need to adapt programmes supporting entrepreneurship among retirees to gender-specific issues (the situation and needs of women in this regard).

Keywords: Seniors; professional activity of seniors; senior entrepreneurship; Eastern Poland macroregion; seniors in the European Union. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J0 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://ersj.eu/journal/4123/download (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ers:journl:v:xxviii:y:2025:i:4:p:446-458

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in European Research Studies Journal from European Research Studies Journal
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Marios Agiomavritis ().