Working past the age of retirement linked to improved physical and mental health – depending on the job

In a new study published in BMC Public HealthResearchers have found that working later in life can be beneficial for some, but has adverse effects for people with high-demand or low-reward jobs.

Research shows that working, compared to involuntary unemployment, is good for mental health; however, there is little work regarding mental and physical health outcomes for people working past retirement age.

Researchers Susan Baxter and colleagues investigated the health outcomes of working people after the age of 64 and evaluated the effectiveness of interventions aimed at optimizing healthy long-term work. The researchers analyzed 9 documents from the records of people who were employed beyond retirement age (over 64 years of age).

The results of the analyzes of the 9 studies show that 5 of the studies found a positive effect for people working after retirement age, 2 studies found a neutral effect, and 2 studies found no adverse effects. Baxter and her colleagues found that men’s health outcomes were 14% better when they worked past retirement age; however, these benefits were found to cease after 6 years of retirement.

Some studies reviewed by Baxter and colleagues showed that working part-time in old age correlates with positive health outcomes. For example, one study showed that older people who worked after the age of 62 were less likely to be depressed or experience sleep disturbances, but these results were not significant. After fully adjusting for results, one study found that older women in the UK who worked in manual jobs were more likely to have higher depression scores, while women who had professional occupations were not negatively affected.

Baxter and colleagues also found that working older men were less likely to require long-term care, but experienced a decrease in daily activities. Older women who worked were less likely to require long-term care and less likely to experience a decline in daily activities.

In general, both retired and working older women had greater physical functioning difficulties than men. The revised study from the United States found higher positive physical outcomes for older people who worked in average-reward jobs, compared to low-reward jobs. One study found a positive quality of life outcome for older people who worked for the purpose of staying active and for pleasure, but not for those who worked for financial reasons.

Evaluation of an intervention aimed at enabling the desired work-life balance showed that people who had low ability to work benefited from the intervention and had a higher perception of being able to do their job. A cohort study of a European data set showed that apart from older people with depression, older retirees and employees did not experience a change in health outcomes when participating in sports and social clubs.

Baxter and colleagues argue that, despite some inconsistencies between the studies reviewed, there appears to be more support for positive and neutral mental and physical health outcomes for people who work beyond retirement age. These results seem to be more frequent for men, people who work part-time and those with higher quality and rewarding jobs. Baxter and colleagues suggest that health differences may not be the only explanation for positive work-related effects later in life.

Baxter and colleagues note that one limitation of their work is that they did not include retirees under the age of 64. Furthermore, only studies written in English were used, which may have excluded other relevant work. Finally, Baxter and her colleagues did not include studies focused on the effects of retirement.

The study, “Is working in old age good for health? A systematic review of health outcomes resulting from long working lives“, was written by Susan Baxter, Lindsay Blank, Anna Cantrell and Elizabeth Goyder.