Work

Health and aging before and after retirement

Year: 2023

Type: article

Abstract: We investigate occupation-specific aging patterns before and after retirement and test the level and rate effects of occupation predicted by the health capital model and the health deficit model. We use five waves of the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and construct a frailty index for elderly men and women from 10 European countries. Occupational groups are classified according to low vs. high education, blue vs. white collar, and high vs. low physical or psychosocial job burden. Controlling for individual fixed effects, we find that, regardless of the classification used, workers from the first (low-status) group display more health deficits at any age and accumulate health deficits faster than workers from the second (high-status) group. We instrument retirement by statutory retirement ages (“normal” and “early”) and find that the health of workers in low-status occupations benefits greatly from retirement, whereas retirement effects for workers in high-status occupations are small and frequently insignificant. In support of the health deficit model, we find that the health status of individuals from low- and high-status groups diverges before and after retirement.

Source: Journal of Population Economics

DOI: 10.1007/s00148-023-00951-3

Authors: Ana Lucia Abeliansky, Holger Strulik

Institutions: Vienna University of Economics and Business, University of Göttingen

Language: English

Topic: Retirement, Disability, and Employment

Subfield: Demography

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, Good health and well-being, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,990