%0 Journal Article %J The Gerontologist %D 2020 %T Alternative retirement paths and cognitive performance: Exploring the role of preretirement job complexity. %A Dawn C Carr %A Robert J. Willis %A Ben Lennox Kail %A Carstensen, Lisbeth %K Cognitive Ability %K Employment and Labor Force %K Trajectories %X

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Recent research suggests that working longer may be protective of cognitive functioning in later life, especially for workers in low complexity jobs. As postretirement work becomes increasingly popular, it is important to understand how various retirement pathways influence cognitive function. The present study examines cognitive changes as a function of job complexity in the context of different types of retirement transitions.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We use data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine change in cognitive function for workers who have held low, moderate, and high complexity jobs and move through distinct retirement pathways-retiring and returning to work, partial retirement-compared with those who fully retire or remain full-time workers. Inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (a propensity score method) is used to adjust for selection effects.

RESULTS: There are systematic variations in the relationships between work and cognitive performance as a function of job complexity and retirement pathways. All retirement pathways were associated with accelerated cognitive decline for workers in low complexity jobs. In contrast, for high complexity workers retirement was not associated with accelerated cognitive decline and retiring and returning to work was associated with modest improvement in cognitive functioning.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Both policy makers and individuals are beginning to embrace longer working lives which offer variety of potential benefits. Our findings suggest that continued full-time work also may be protective for cognitive health in workers who hold low complexity jobs.

%B The Gerontologist %V 60 %G eng %U http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31289823?dopt=Abstract %N 3 %9 Journal %& 460-471 %R 10.1093/geront/gnz079 %0 Book Section %B Social Protection in and Ageing World (International Series on Social Security) %D 2008 %T Ageing in the U.S.: The Health and Retirement Study %A Robert J. Willis %E Kemp, Peter A. %E Van den Bosch, Karel %E Smith, Lindsey %K Methodology %X In this paper, I attempt to describe from both historical and analytical standpoints how and why the HRS began and how and why it has evolved into an interdisciplinary and international scientific project of major significance both for basic science and for public policy.The spread ofthe HRSmodel internationally has not been the result of top-down agreements among governments. Rather, in analogy with open source software such as Linux, the HRS design and content provides researchers with a platform that can be used as a template to develop surveys in their own countries to address scientific and policy questions of both local and general significance. Each of the international studies has found it in its self-interest to be as comparable as possible to the HRS and to one another because, by being comparable, each country can use data from other countries as natural experiments to explore the implications of alternative policies. American researchers, for example, are interested in the implications of alternative forms of financing and delivering health care that have been developed in England and continental Europe. Were data available, American health insurance researchers would be especially interested in Canada. %B Social Protection in and Ageing World (International Series on Social Security) %I Intersentia %C Portland, OR %V 13 %P 47-61 %G eng %L newpubs20081205_Willis_Ageing.pdf %4 HRS content and design %$ 19480 %! Ageing in the U.S.: The Health and Retirement Study %0 Book Section %B Wealth, work, and health: Innovations in measurement in the social sciences: Essays in honor of F. Thomas Juster %D 1999 %T The Association of Influenza Vaccine Receipt with Health and Economic Expectations among Elders: The AHEAD Study %A Robert B Wallace %A Nichols, Sara %A Michael D Hurd %E James P Smith %E Robert J. Willis %K Consumption and Savings %K Expectations %K Health Conditions and Status %K Methodology %B Wealth, work, and health: Innovations in measurement in the social sciences: Essays in honor of F. Thomas Juster %I University of Michigan Press %C Ann Arbor, MI %P 326-34. %G eng %4 Health Production/Health Behavior/Economic Behavior/Expectations of Future Events/Economics of the Elderly/Microeconomic Data Management/Health %$ 1058 %! The Association of Influenza Vaccine Receipt with Health and Economic Expectations among Elders: The AHEAD Study