Faced with workforce ageing, most OECD countries have to deal with the challenge of reversing
the trend of early labor market exit to prevent future labor shortages. Flexible working hours
have been widely supported as an important policy instrument to increase older workers' labor
supply, though little evidence exists concerning their e±cacy. This paper examines how working
hours constraints a®ect the decision to continue working or to leave the labor market for older
workers in the UK. Using a competing risks framework, the results indicate that over-employed
men can freely adjust working hours with their current employer. Over-employed older women,
though, leave the labor market earlier due to a lack of gradual retirement opportunities with the
current employer.