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What Makes Retirees Happy?

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Author Info
Keith A. Bender () (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)
Natalia A. Jivan () (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College)

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Abstract

Economic well-being in retirement has been of increasing interest for economic researchers. The policy implications are large. As the baby boom generation nears retirement, understanding the factors that determine economic well-being enables policymakers to evaluate and possibly reform present retirement institutions, such as public and private pension programs. Of particular interest in this field has been the focus on retirement income adequacy, that is, the financial resources retirees need to be above some minimal level. While this area of research is important, focusing on just the economic well-being of individuals may miss other factors that influence overall welfare. Indeed, there has been a lack of research on other aspects of well-being for retirees in the economics literature. This brief attempts to fill this void by examining the determinants of the overall well-being of retirees, using the 2000 Health and Retirement Study. The brief is organized as follows. The next section reviews the economics literature on well-being measures. The second section explains the data used in the analysis presented in this brief, while the third section reviews the results. A final section summarizes the study and offers areas of future research.

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Publisher Info
Paper provided by Center for Retirement Research in its series Issues in Brief with number ib28.

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Length: 11 pages
Date of creation: Feb 2005
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:crr:issbrf:ib28

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Related research
Keywords: retirement; baby boomers; income; well-being; retiree; satisfaction;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
J14 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Keith A. Bender, 2004. "The Well-Being of Retirees: Evidence Using Subjective Data," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College 2004-24, Center for Retirement Research. [Downloadable!]
  2. Gerlach, Knut & Stephan, Gesine, 1996. "A paper on unhappiness and unemployment in Germany," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 325-330, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Andrew A. Luchak & Ian R. Gellatly, 2002. "How Pension Accrual Affects Job Satisfaction ," Journal of Labor Research, Transaction Publishers, vol. 23(1), pages 145-162, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Keith A. Bender & Susan M. Donohue & John S. Heywood, 2005. "Job satisfaction and gender segregation," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 57(3), pages 479-496, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Clark, Andrew E. & Oswald, Andrew J., 1996. "Satisfaction and comparison income," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(3), pages 359-381, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Phillip B. Levine & Olivia S. Mitchell & James F. Moore, . "Women on the Verge of Retirement: Predictors of Retiree Well-being," Pension Research Council Working Papers 97-2, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
  7. Bruno S. Frey & Alois Stutzer, 2002. "What Can Economists Learn from Happiness Research?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(2), pages 402-435, June.
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  8. Hamermesh, Daniel S., 1999. "The Changing Distribution of Job Satisfaction," IZA Discussion Papers 42, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
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  9. Debra S. Dwyer & Jianting Hu, . "Retirement Expectations and Realizations: The Role of Health Shocks and Economic Factors," Pension Research Council Working Papers 98-18, Wharton School Pension Research Council, University of Pennsylvania.
  10. Wim Groot & Henriëtte Van Den Brink, 2002. "Age and Education Differences in Marriages and their Effects on Life Satisfaction," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 3(2), pages 153-165, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Kerwin Kofi Charles, 2002. "Is Retirement Depressing?: Labor Force Inactivity and Psychological Well-Being in Later Life," NBER Working Papers 9033, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Chan, Sewin & Stevens, Ann Huff, 2001. "Job Loss and Employment Patterns of Older Workers," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 19(2), pages 484-521, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Winkelmann, Liliana & Winkelmann, Rainer, 1998. "Why Are the Unemployed So Unhappy? Evidence from Panel Data," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 65(257), pages 1-15, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Osberg, Lars, 1993. "Is It Retirement or Unemployment? Induced 'Retirement' and Constrained Labour Supply among Older Workers," Applied Economics, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 25(4), pages 505-19, April.
  15. Clark, Andrew E & Oswald, Andrew J, 1994. "Unhappiness and Unemployment," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 104(424), pages 648-59, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Alicia H. Munnell & Robert K. Triest & Natalia A. Jivan, 2004. "How Do Pensions Affect Actual and Expected Retirement Ages?," Working Papers, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College 2004-27, Center for Retirement Research. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Calvo, Esteban, 2006. "Does Working Longer Make People Healthier and Happier?," MPRA Paper 5606, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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