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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
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    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.

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    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

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