Effects of Retirement on Health among Men and Women in the Health and Retirement Study

The myth of retirement and health states that health declines following retirement. Previous studies examining the veracity of this myth offer contradictory findings and varied methodologies. Several studies have found support for the myth, but others have found that health may actually improve in retirement. Also, it has been suggested that retirement may affect health of men and women in different ways. The purpose of the current study was to clarify and extend previous findings regarding the relationship between retirement and health among men and women using data from the Health and Retirement Study. The study was conducted in two phases. For the first phase, cross-sectional data were analyzed with working and retired participants matched on age, sex, race, and education. In the second phase, a longitudinal matched sample was utilized that included working participants, half of whom had retired by four year follow up. Sex, marital status, and income were examined as potential moderators. Results indicated that retired participants in both samples reported more functional health impairment and more symptoms of depression. However, the effect appeared to be evident primarily among people who had been forced to retire. There was no difference between voluntary retirees and working participants on functional health impairment, and voluntary retirees actually reported fewer symptoms of depression than working participants. Overall, this study provides support for the myth of retirement and health, but only among people forced to retire.

GENDER-DIFFERENCES

17990