What leads an unemployed person over the age of 55 to wait until retirement rather than attempting to find work again? How do economic incentives influence the individual decisions made in these cases? The researcher of the Andalusian Studies Centre, J. Ignacio García Pérez, together with Alfonso R. Sánchez Martín of the Pablo de Olavide University, are the authors of this article which forms part of a more extensive research project regarding labour participation by older workers: What reforms are necessary to unemployment and retirement benefits? This initial evaluation concludes that a reform is required in order to resolve the risks involved with social changes such as demographic aging, increased life expectancy and reduced birth rates, and in order to improve the labour incentives existing for older workers, along with the "joint design" of public policies for unemployment and retirement.