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Health, Health Insurance, and Retirement: A Survey

Author

Listed:
  • Eric French

    (Department of Economics, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom)

  • John Bailey Jones

    (Research Department, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia 23261)

Abstract

The degree to which retirement decisions are driven by health is a key concern for both academics and policy makers. In this review, we survey the economic literature on the health–retirement link in developed countries. We describe the mechanisms through which health affects labor supply and discuss how these mechanisms interact with public pensions and public health insurance. The historical evidence suggests that health is not the primary source of variation in retirement across countries and over time. Furthermore, the decline of health with age can only explain a small share of the decline in employment near retirement age. Health considerations nonetheless play an important role, especially in explaining cross-sectional variation in employment and other outcomes within countries. We review the mechanisms through which health affects retirement and discuss recent empirical analyses.

Suggested Citation

  • Eric French & John Bailey Jones, 2017. "Health, Health Insurance, and Retirement: A Survey," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 9(1), pages 383-409, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:anr:reveco:v:9:y:2017:p:383-409
    DOI: 10.1146/annurev-economics-063016-103616
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    Cited by:

    1. Sebastian Galiani & Juan Pantano, 2021. "Structural Models: Inception and Frontier," NBER Working Papers 28698, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Margherita Borella & Francisco A. Bullano & Mariacristina De Nardi & Benjamin Krueger & Elena Manresa, 2024. "Health Inequality and Health Types," NBER Working Papers 32799, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Roozbei Hosseini & Karen Kopecky & Kai Zhao, 2022. "The Evolution of Health over the Life Cycle," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 45, pages 237-263, July.
    4. Jones, John Bailey & Li, Yue, 2018. "The effects of collecting income taxes on Social Security benefits," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 128-145.
    5. Ilmakunnas, Pekka & Ilmakunnas, Seija, 2018. "Health and retirement age: Comparison of expectations and actual retirement," MPRA Paper 102618, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Kemptner, Daniel, 2019. "Health-related life cycle risks and public insurance," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 65, pages 227-245.
    7. Fonseca, Raquel & Moro-Egido, Ana I. & Morin, Hugo, 2024. "Stress and retirement," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    8. Linden, Mikael, 2024. "Optimal Retirement Age: Death Hazard Rate Approach," MPRA Paper 120786, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Jack Britton & Eric French, 2020. "Health and Employment amongst Older Workers," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(1), pages 221-250, March.
    10. Agar Brugiavini & Petru Crudu, 2023. "The Role of Disability Insurance on the Labour Market Trajectories of Europeans," Working Papers 2023:20, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    11. 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.
    12. Vandenberghe Vincent, 2021. "Differentiating retirement age to compensate for health differences," IZA Journal of Labor Policy, Sciendo & Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 11(1), pages 1-34, May.
    13. Vincent Vandenberghe, 2021. "Work beyond the age of 50. What role for mental versus physical health?," LABOUR, CEIS, vol. 35(3), pages 311-347, September.
    14. Danilo Cavapozzi & Chiara Dal Bianco, "undated". "The effect of work disability on the intention to retire of older workers," Working Papers 2018:26, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    15. Casper Worm Hansen & Carl-Johan Dalgaard & Holger Strulik, 2023. "Physiological aging and life-cycle labor supply across countries," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 18(11), pages 1-22, November.
    16. Tianli Yang & Zhong Zhao, 2025. "Public Long‐Term Care Insurance and Retirement Intentions of Urban Workers: Evidence From China," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(9), pages 1537-1559, September.
    17. 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.
    18. Madero-Cabib, Ignacio & Biehl, Andres, 2021. "Lifetime employment–coresidential trajectories and extended working life in Chile," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 19(C).
    19. Volker Grossmann & Johannes Schünemann & Holger Strulik, 2024. "Fair Pension Policies with Occupation-Specific Ageing," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(663), pages 2835-2875.
    20. Cavapozzi, Danilo & Dal Bianco, Chiara, 2021. "The effect of work disability on the job involvement of older workers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 192(C), pages 724-739.
    21. Marco Magnani, 2020. "Precautionary retirement and precautionary saving," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 129(1), pages 49-77, January.
    22. Nolan, Anne & Barrett, Alan, 2018. "Working Beyond 65 in Ireland," IZA Discussion Papers 11664, IZA Network @ LISER.
    23. Jan C. van Ours, 2022. "How Retirement Affects Mental Health, Cognitive Skills and Mortality; An Overview of Recent Empirical Evidence," De Economist, Springer, vol. 170(3), pages 375-400, August.

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