IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujhec/v20y2019i3d10.1007_s10198-018-1005-z.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of late and prolonged working life on subjective health: the Swedish experience

Author

Listed:
  • Dominique Anxo

    (School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University)

  • Thomas Ericson

    (School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University)

  • Chizheng Miao

    (School of Business and Economics, Linnaeus University
    Linnaeus University Centre for Discrimination and Integration Studies, Linnaeus University)

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between the prolongation of working life and subjective health. Drawing on a unique combination of longitudinal data and the results of a postal survey in Sweden, we investigate the health consequences of extending working life beyond the normal retirement age of 65. To do this, we compare the health status of two groups of retired people: one group who left the labour market completely at the age of 65, and a second group who remained in employment after the age of 65. Using a standard linear probability model and controlling for a range of socio-economic variables as well as previous labour market experiences, perceived life expectancy, pre-retirement income and health, our estimations show that those continuing to work after 65 on average display a 6.8% higher probability of reporting better health during retirement than those leaving at the age of 65. However, we find that this positive correlation between the extension of working life and health is only transitory. After 6 years of retirement, the health advantage of working after the normal retirement age disappears. Furthermore, we did not find any evidence that working after the age of 65 is positively correlated with physical fitness, self-reported depressive symptoms or well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Dominique Anxo & Thomas Ericson & Chizheng Miao, 2019. "Impact of late and prolonged working life on subjective health: the Swedish experience," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 20(3), pages 389-405, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:20:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10198-018-1005-z
    DOI: 10.1007/s10198-018-1005-z
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10198-018-1005-z
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10198-018-1005-z?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hans Bloemen & Stefan Hochguertel & Jochem Zweerink, 2017. "The causal effect of retirement on mortality: Evidence from targeted incentives to retire early," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(12), pages 204-218, December.
    2. Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2018. "Social Insurance and Health," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 57-84, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Heller-Sahlgren, Gabriel, 2017. "Retirement blues," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 66-78.
    4. Lucas Ronconi & Timothy T. Brown & Richard M. Scheffler, 2012. "Social capital and self‐rated health in Argentina," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 201-208, February.
    5. Coe, Norma B. & Zamarro, Gema, 2011. "Retirement effects on health in Europe," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 77-86, January.
    6. Eibich, Peter, 2015. "Understanding the Effect of Retirement on Health: Mechanisms and Heterogeneity," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 43, pages 1-12.
    7. Kevin Neuman, 2008. "Quit Your Job and Get Healthier? The Effect of Retirement on Health," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 29(2), pages 177-201, June.
    8. Coe, N.B. & Lindeboom, M., 2008. "Does Retirement Kill You? Evidence from Early Retirement Windows," Other publications TiSEM 749af81e-10f6-4c32-b9ae-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    9. Michael Insler, 2014. "The Health Consequences of Retirement," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 49(1), pages 195-233.
    10. Esteban Calvo & Natalia Sarkisian & Christopher R. Tamborini, 2012. "Causal Effects of Retirement Timing on Subjective Physical and Emotional Health," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 68(1), pages 73-84.
    11. Atalay, Kadir & Barrett, Garry F., 2014. "The causal effect of retirement on health: New evidence from Australian pension reform," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 125(3), pages 392-395.
    12. Hallberg, Daniel & Johansson, Per & Josephson, Malin, 2015. "Is an early retirement offer good for your health? Quasi-experimental evidence from the army," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 274-285.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohamed Ali Ben Halima & Camille Ciriez & Malik Koubi & Ali Skalli, 2021. "Retarder l’âge d’ouverture des droits à la retraite provoque-t-il un déversement de l’assurance-retraite vers l’assurance-maladie ? L’effet de la réforme des retraites de 2010 sur l’absence-maladie," Working Papers hal-03507914, HAL.
    2. Mohamed Ali Ben Halima & Camille Ciriez & Malik Koubi & Ali Skalli, 2022. "Retarder l’âge d’ouverture des droits à la retraite provoque-t-il un déversement de l’assurance-retraite vers l’assurance-maladie ? L’effet de la réforme des retraites de 2010 sur l’absence-maladie," Working Papers hal-03509628, HAL.
    3. Jonathan L. Chia & Andree Hartanto, 2021. "Older Adult Employment Status and Well-Being: A Longitudinal Bidirectional Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-19, November.
    4. Anne Bustreel & Martine Pernod-Lemattre, 2021. "The working-time regime of the “ideal worker” in high-skilled occupations [Le régime temporel du « travailleur idéal » dans les professions hautement qualifiées]," Post-Print hal-03474261, HAL.
    5. Pedron, Sara & Maier, Werner & Peters, Annette & Linkohr, Birgit & Meisinger, Christine & Rathmann, Wolfgang & Eibich, Peter & Schwettmann, Lars, 2020. "The effect of retirement on biomedical and behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic disease," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 38(C).
    6. Bocong Yuan & Jiachun Fang & Jiannan Li & Fei Peng, 2022. "Chronic patients as retirement-aged workers: the impact of employment-based health insurance and chronic conditions on health-related working capacity and late-life career participation," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1351-1362, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mattia Filomena & Matteo Picchio, 2023. "Retirement and health outcomes in a meta‐analytical framework," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1120-1155, September.
    2. Johannes Hagen, 2018. "The effects of increasing the normal retirement age on health care utilization and mortality," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(1), pages 193-234, January.
    3. Hagen, Johannes, 2016. "What are the Health effects of postponing retirement? An instrumental variable approach," Working Paper Series 2016:11, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    4. Antoine Bozio & Clémentine Garrouste & Elsa Perdrix, 2021. "Impact of later retirement on mortality: Evidence from France," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1178-1199, May.
    5. Leimer, Birgit & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2022. "No “honeymoon phase”: whose health benefits from retirement and when," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    6. Antoine Bozio & Clémentine Garrouste & Elsa Perdrix, 2021. "Impact of later retirement on mortality: Evidence from France," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1178-1199, May.
    7. Clémentine Garrouste & Elsa Perdrix, 2022. "Is there a consensus on the health consequences of retirement? A literature review," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(4), pages 841-879, September.
    8. Maja Weemes Grøtting & Otto Sevaldson Lillebø, 2020. "Health effects of retirement: evidence from survey and register data," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(2), pages 671-704, April.
    9. Kuusi, T. & Martikainen, P. & Valkonen, T., 2020. "The influence of old-age retirement on health: Causal evidence from the Finnish register data," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 17(C).
    10. Eyjólfsdóttir, H.S. & Baumann, I. & Agahi, N. & Fritzell, J. & Lennartsson, C., 2019. "Prolongation of working life and its effect on mortality and health in older adults: Propensity score matching," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 77-86.
    11. Rose, Liam, 2020. "Retirement and health: Evidence from England," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    12. Weemes Grøtting, Maja & Lillebø, Otto, 2017. "Health Effects of Retirement: Evidence from Survey and Register Data," Working Papers in Economics 10/18, University of Bergen, Department of Economics, revised 19 Nov 2018.
    13. Shai, Ori, 2018. "Is retirement good for men’s health? Evidence using a change in the retirement age in Israel," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 15-30.
    14. Andreas Kuhn, 2018. "The complex effects of retirement on health," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 430-430, March.
    15. Barschkett, Mara & Geyer, Johannes & Haan, Peter & Hammerschmid, Anna, 2022. "The effects of an increase in the retirement age on health — Evidence from administrative data," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    16. Kuhn, Andreas & Staubli, Stefan & Wuellrich, Jean-Philippe & Zweimüller, Josef, 2020. "Fatal attraction? Extended unemployment benefits, labor force exits, and mortality," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    17. Bellés Obrero, Cristina & Jimenez-Martin, Sergi & Ye, Han, 2022. "The Effect of Removing Early Retirement on Mortality," IZA Discussion Papers 15577, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2018. "Social Insurance and Health," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 57-84, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    19. Ludovico Carrino & Karen Glaser & Mauricio Avendano, 2020. "Later retirement, job strain, and health: Evidence from the new State Pension age in the United Kingdom," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(8), pages 891-912, August.
    20. Fitzpatrick, Maria D. & Moore, Timothy J., 2018. "The mortality effects of retirement: Evidence from Social Security eligibility at age 62," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 121-137.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Extending working life; Self-assessed health; Retirement; Sweden;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-Labor Market Discrimination
    • J26 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Retirement; Retirement Policies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:20:y:2019:i:3:d:10.1007_s10198-018-1005-z. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.