California Center for Population Research

Objectives: This study investigates relationships between perceived levels of work-family

conflict and retirement preferences.

Methods: Using the large sample of 52-54 year-old respondents to the 1992 Wisconsin

Longitudinal Study, we estimate multinomial logistic regression models of preferences for partial

and full retirement within the next ten years. We examine the association between preferences

for retirement and perceived work-family conflict, evaluate the extent to which work-family

conflict is a mediating mechanism between stressful work and family circumstances and

preferences for retirement, and explore potential gender differences in the association between

work-family conflict and retirement preferences.

Results: Work-family conflict is positively related to preferences for both full and partial

retirement. Yet work-family conflict does not appear to mediate relationships between stressful

work and family environments and retirement preferences, nor do significant gender differences

emerge in this association.

Discussion: Our analyses provide the first direct evidence of the role played by work-family

conflict in the early stages of the retirement process, although we are not able to identify the

sources of conflict underlying this relationship. Identifying the sources of this conflict and the

psychological mechanisms linking work-family conflict to retirement preferences is an important

task for subsequent research.