IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/chinae/v33y2025i6p1-28.html

Returning to Work: Older Adults' Labor Force Participation and Health Status

Author

Listed:
  • Shaoxiang Jiang
  • Yinhe Liang
  • Ruoying Mei
  • Shuang Yu

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of labor force participation on the physical and mental health of older adults, using the implementation of the provincial‐level Regulations on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of the Olderly as an entry point and applying the control function method to address endogeneity. The results indicate that the labor force participation of older adults improved their physical health significantly but had no significant effect on mental health. The positive effect on physical health was stronger for women, urban residents, those with lower education levels, and those with health insurance. Labor force participation operated through income effects and health behavior channels but no evidence was found for a social support channel. These results suggest that removing institutional barriers and empowering older adults can help to address the challenges of an aging population and promote a healthier China.

Suggested Citation

  • Shaoxiang Jiang & Yinhe Liang & Ruoying Mei & Shuang Yu, 2025. "Returning to Work: Older Adults' Labor Force Participation and Health Status," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 33(6), pages 1-28, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:chinae:v:33:y:2025:i:6:p:1-28
    DOI: 10.1111/cwe.70001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/cwe.70001
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/cwe.70001?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lund, Crick & Breen, Alison & Flisher, Alan J. & Kakuma, Ritsuko & Corrigall, Joanne & Joska, John A. & Swartz, Leslie & Patel, Vikram, 2010. "Poverty and common mental disorders in low and middle income countries: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 517-528, August.
    2. Gebel, Michael & Voßemer, Jonas, 2014. "The impact of employment transitions on health in Germany. A difference-in-differences propensity score matching approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 128-136.
    3. Shuheng Yu & Xinxin Ma & Peng Zhan, 2024. "Effects of the Resident Basic Medical Insurance Reform on Household Consumption in China," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 32(1), pages 96-129, January.
    4. Ed Diener & Robert Biswas-Diener, 2002. "Will Money Increase Subjective Well-Being?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 119-169, February.
    5. Xue, Xindong & Reed, W. Robert & Menclova, Andrea, 2020. "Social capital and health: a meta-analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    6. Noghanibehambari, Hamid & Engelman, Michal, 2022. "Social insurance programs and later-life mortality: Evidence from new deal relief spending," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    7. Vicki Freedman & Linda Martin, 1999. "The role of education in explaining and forecasting trends in functional limitations among older Americans," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(4), pages 461-473, November.
    8. Cutler, David M. & Lleras-Muney, Adriana, 2010. "Understanding differences in health behaviors by education," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-28, January.
    9. Guido W. Imbens & Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2009. "Recent Developments in the Econometrics of Program Evaluation," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(1), pages 5-86, March.
    10. Fu, Hongqiao & Ge, Run & Huang, Jialin & Shi, Xinzheng, 2022. "The effect of education on health and health behaviors: Evidence from the college enrollment expansion in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Zhao, Qiran & Brosig, Stephan & Luo, Renfu & Zhang, Linxiu & Yue, Ai & Rozelle, Scott, 2016. "The New Rural Social Pension Program in rural China: Participation and its correlates," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 8(4), pages 647-661.
    12. Stefanie Behncke, 2012. "Does retirement trigger ill health?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(3), pages 282-300, March.
    13. Böhme, Marcus H. & Persian, Ruth & Stöhr, Tobias, 2015. "Alone but better off? Adult child migration and health of elderly parents in Moldova," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 211-227.
    14. Coe, Norma B. & Zamarro, Gema, 2011. "Retirement effects on health in Europe," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 77-86, January.
    15. 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.
    16. Jeffrey M. Wooldridge, 2015. "Control Function Methods in Applied Econometrics," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 50(2), pages 420-445.
    17. Van Houtven, Courtney Harold & Norton, Edward C., 2004. "Informal care and health care use of older adults," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1159-1180, November.
    18. Gerald J. Pruckner & Thomas Schober & Katrin Zocher, 2020. "The company you keep: health behavior among work peers," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(2), pages 251-259, March.
    19. Strauss, John & Lei, Xiaoyan & Park, Albert & Shen, Yan & Smith, James P. & Yang, Zhe & Zhao, Yaohui, 2010. "Health Outcomes and Socio-Economic Status among the Elderly in China: Evidence from the CHARLS Pilot," IZA Discussion Papers 5152, IZA Network @ LISER.
    20. Qiran Zhao & Stephan Brosig & Renfu Luo & Linxiu Zhang & Ai Yue & Scott Rozelle, 2016. "The new rural social pension program in rural China: participation and its correlates," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 8(4), pages 647-661, November.
    21. Ma, Mingming, 2019. "Does children's education matter for parents’ health and cognition? Evidence from China," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 222-240.
    22. repec:ran:wpaper:774 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Menghua Li & Yun Zhou & Xinjie Shi, 2021. "Who Will Care for Middle Aged and Elderly Parents in Rural China?," China & World Economy, Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, vol. 29(2), pages 123-150, March.
    24. Luo, Ye & Pan, Xi & Zhang, Zhenmei, 2019. "Productive activities and cognitive decline among older adults in China: Evidence from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 96-105.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. 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).
    2. Martina Celidoni & Vincenzo Rebba, 2017. "Healthier lifestyles after retirement in Europe? Evidence from SHARE," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 18(7), pages 805-830, September.
    3. Apouey, Bénédicte H. & Guven, Cahit & Senik, Claudia, 2019. "Retirement and Unexpected Health Shocks," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 116-123.
    4. Andreas Kuhn, 2018. "The complex effects of retirement on health," World of Labour, LISER, pages 430-430, March.
    5. 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.
    6. 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.
    7. 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.
    8. Leimer, Birgit & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2022. "No “honeymoon phase”: whose health benefits from retirement and when," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    9. Eibich, Peter & Goldzahl, Léontine, 2021. "Does retirement affect secondary preventive care use? Evidence from breast cancer screening," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    10. 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).
    11. Pierre-Jean Messe & François-Charles Wolff, 2019. "Healthier when retiring earlier? Evidence from France," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(47), pages 5122-5143, October.
    12. 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).
    13. Barschkett, Mara & Geyer, Johannes & Haan, Peter & Hammerschmid, Anna, 2022. "The effects of an increase in the retirement age on health — Evidence from administrative data," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 23, pages 1-53.
    14. 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.
    15. 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.
    16. Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2018. "Social Insurance and Health," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 57-84, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    17. 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.
    18. Vigezzi, Giacomo Pietro & Barbati, Chiara & Maggioni, Elena & Stenholm, Sari & Odone, Anna & Amerio, A. & Ardito, C. & Bertuccio, P. & Costa, G. & d’Errico, A. & Gentile, L. & Odone, A. & Vigezzi, G.P, 2025. "Impact of retirement transition on health, well-being and health behaviours: critical insights from an overview of reviews," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).
    19. Heller-Sahlgren, Gabriel, 2017. "Retirement blues," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 66-78.
    20. 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.

    More about this item

    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:bla:chinae:v:33:y:2025:i:6:p:1-28. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/iwepacn.html .

    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.