Retirement blues.

This paper analyses the short- and longer-term effects of retirement on mental health in ten European countries. It exploits thresholds created by state pension ages in an individual-fixed effects instrumental-variable set-up, borrowing intuitions from the regression-discontinuity design literature, to deal with endogeneity in retirement behaviour. The results display no short-term effects of retirement on mental health, but a large negative longer-term impact. This impact survives a battery of robustness tests, and applies to women and men as well as people of different educational and occupational backgrounds similarly. Overall, the findings suggest that reforms inducing people to postpone retirement are not only important for making pension systems solvent, but with time could also pay a mental health dividend among the elderly and reduce public health care costs.

• Publication year

  2017

• Venue

  Journal of Health Economics

• Publication date

  Unknown publication date

• Fields of study

  Medicine, Economics

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.03.007PMID 28505541
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Gaining weight through retirement? Results from the SHARE survey.

  2016cited by this paper
• Retirement, age, gender and mental health: findings from the 45 and Up Study

  2015cited by this paper
• Understanding the effect of retirement on health: Mechanisms and heterogeneity.

  2015cited by this paper
• From social capital to health--and back.

  2014cited by this paper
• A Longitudinal Study of Well-Being of Older Europeans: Does Retirement Matter?

  2014cited by this paper
• Data Resource Profile: the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE).

  2013cited by this paper
• The impact of retirement on mental health in Canada.

  2013cited by this paper
• Does retirement trigger ill health?

  2012cited by this paper
• Social capital and self-rated health in Argentina.

  2012cited by this paper
• The Displacement Effect of Public Pensions on the Accumulation of Financial Assets.

  2012cited by this paper
• Is Retirement Beneficial for Mental Health?: Antidepressant Use Before and After Retirement

  2011cited by this paper
• Does retirement affect cognitive functioning?

  2010cited by this paper
• Mental Retirement.

  2010cited by this paper
• From Midlife to Early Old Age: Health Trajectories Associated With Retirement

  2010cited by this paper
• The role of institutions and health in European patterns of work and retirement

  2009cited by this paper
• Does social capital determine health? Evidence from eight transition countries.

  2009cited by this paper
• Self-rated health before and after retirement in France (GAZEL): a cohort study.

  2009cited by this paper
• Retirement effects on health in Europe.

  2008cited by this paper
• An economic model of social capital and health

  2008cited by this paper
• Is retirement good or bad for mental and physical health functioning? Whitehall II longitudinal study of civil servants

  2003cited by this paper
• An econometric analysis of the mental-health effects of major events in the life of older individuals.

  2002cited by this paper
• Depression symptoms in late life assessed using the EURO–D scale

  1999cited by this paper

• Retirement trajectories and their impact on depression among older Adults in China

  2026cites this paper
• Emotional Well-Being Trajectories Before and After Statutory Retirement-Contributions of Social and Health-Related Factors.

  2026cites this paper
• The Impact of Post-Retirement Social Relationship Changes on Depressive Symptoms in Chinese Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Loneliness and Moderating Role of Social Networks

  2025cites this paper
• Relational Turbulence Among Retired Couples in Arab Society: An APIM Analysis

  2025cites this paper
• Mental Health Trajectories Surrounding Retirement: A Longitudinal Perspective

  2025cites this paper
• Retirement, Leisure Activities, and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults: Evidence From China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey Data

  2025cites this paper
• Assessing the mental health implications of carbon trading policies: evidence from urban China

  2025cites this paper
• Against Compulsory Retirement: The Future Labor of Finitude

  2025cites this paper
• From disorder to distress: Investigating neighborhood change and mental health with Streetview and longitudinal survey data.

  2025cites this paper
• Retirement and weight stability: Panel evidence from Australia

  2025cites this paper
• The relationship between retirement, social isolation and loneliness: A longitudinal analysis using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

  2025cites this paper
• On the role of social security systems in a non-unitary discounting model

  2025cites this paper
• Is labor force participation detrimental to the mental health of rural older adults? The mediating role of attitudes toward aging

  2025cites this paper
• Cumulative Effect of Retirement on Mortality.

  2025cites this paper
• Workplace autonomy and mental health.

  2025cites this paper
• Digital retirees? Retirement and online shopping in China

  2025cites this paper
• Retirement Trajectories and Health in Japan.

  2025cites this paper
• The impact of retirement on health: Empirical evidence from the change in public pensionable age in Japan

  2024cites this paper
• Does Retirement Increase Fraud Exposure and Fraud Victimization? Evidence From China

  2024cites this paper
• The impact of retirement on loneliness in Europe

  2024cites this paper
• Understanding the heterogeneous health effect of retirement by tracking daily activities

  2024cites this paper
• Partial Identification of the Effect of Retirement on Mental Health with Panel Data.

  2024cites this paper
• The Asymmetric Spillover Effects of Retirement on Disability: Evidence From China

  2024cites this paper
• Retirement Makes You Old? Causal Effect of Retirement on Biological Age.

  2024cites this paper
• The effect of retirement eligibility on mental health in the United Kingdom: Heterogeneous effects by occupation.

  2024cites this paper
• Work status among middle-aged and older individuals in China: the effects on physical and mental health

  2024cites this paper
• Level of Occupational Balance among Retirees in Malaysia

  2024cites this paper
• Occupational differences in the effects of retirement on hospitalizations for mental illness among female workers: Evidence from administrative data in China.

  2024cites this paper
• Retirement, Housing Mobility, Downsizing and Neighbourhood Quality – A Causal Investigation

  2023cites this paper
• Retirement and healthcare utilization: Evidence from pension eligibility ages in South Korea

  2023cites this paper
• Evaluating the heterogeneous treatment effects of retirement on the mental health of older adults

  2023influential citation
• Retirement Spillover Effects on Spousal Health in Urban China

  2023cites this paper
• The effects of parental retirement on adult children's health: Evidence from China.

  2023cites this paper
• Retirement Pathways’ Effect on Physical and Mental Health: Evidence from Japan

  2023cites this paper
• Overage labor, intergenerational financial support, and depression among older rural residents: evidence from China

  2023cites this paper
• Mental health around retirement: evidence of Ashenfelter’s dip

  2023influential citation
• Can I live with you after I retire? Retirement, old age support and internal migration in a developing country

  2023cites this paper
• Retirement and Epigenetic age Acceleration Among Older U.S. Adults

  2023cites this paper
• The effect of retirement on health and mortality in the United States

  2023cites this paper
• Effect of Retirement on Life Satisfaction in Canada: Evidence from the 2008–2009 Canadian Community Health Survey–Healthy Aging

  2023cites this paper
• Health and aging before and after retirement

  2023cites this paper
• Pension Reforms, Longer Working Horizons and Depression. Does the Risk of Automation Matter?

  2023cites this paper
• Depression and Financial Planning Horizon

  2022cites this paper
• Retirement and Health Outcomes in a Meta-Analytical Framework

  2022cites this paper
• The retirement-health puzzle: Breathe a sigh of relief at retirement?

  2022cites this paper
• Waiting to get a pension: The impact of pension eligibility on psychological distress.

  2022cites this paper
• The Effects of an Increase in the Retirement Age on Health: Evidence from Administrative Data

  2022cites this paper
• Public Pension Systems’ Financial Sustainability in Central and Eastern European Countries

  2022cites this paper
• Who will I be when I retire? The role of organizational commitment, group memberships and retirement transition framing on older worker’s anticipated identity change in retirement

  2022cites this paper
• Does retirement (really) increase informal caregiving? Quasi-experimental evidence from Australia.

  2022cites this paper
• Use it too much and lose everything? The effects of hours of work on health

  2022cites this paper
• The retirement-health puzzle: A sigh of relief at retirement?

  2022cites this paper
• The impact of spousal and own retirement on health: Evidence from urban China

  2022cites this paper
• How Retirement Affects Mental Health, Cognitive Skills and Mortality; An Overview of Recent Empirical Evidence

  2022cites this paper
• Does raising retirement age lead to a healthier transition to retirement? Evidence from the U.S. Social Security Amendments of 1983.

  2022cites this paper
• Does retirement affect voluntary work provision? Evidence from Europe and the U.S.

  2022cites this paper
• A meta-analysis of retirement adjustment predictors

  2022cites this paper
• The effect of involuntary retirement on healthcare use.

  2022cites this paper
• Short- and Long-Term Effects of Retirement on Health

  2021cites this paper
• Health consequences of retirement due to non-health reasons or poor health.

  2021cites this paper
• Work after retirement affects elderly mental health and behaviors in Addis Ababa

  2021cites this paper
• The Longitudinal Association Between Retirement and Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

  2021cites this paper
• High-resolution age-specific mapping of the two-week illness prevalence rate based on the National Health Services Survey and geostatistical analysis: a case study in Guangdong province, China

  2021cites this paper
• The Effect of Retirement on Mental Health: Indirect Treatment Effects and Causal Mediation

  2021cites this paper
• How did European retirees respond to the COVID-19 pandemic?

  2021cites this paper
• The impact of retirement on mental health.

  2021cites this paper
• Changes in depressive symptoms from pre- to postretirement over a 20-year span: The role of self-perceptions of aging.

  2021cites this paper
• Does retirement reduce familiarity with Information and Communication Technology?

  2021cites this paper
• Modeling the Impact of Socioeconomic and Medical Characteristics on Public Pension Systems in Central and Eastern European Countries

  2021cites this paper
• The Impact of Retirement on Happiness and Loneliness in Poland—Evidence from Panel Data

  2021cites this paper
• Retirement and health services utilization in a low‐income country*

  2021cites this paper
• Is there a consensus on the health consequences of retirement? A literature review

  2021cites this paper
• Does retirement trigger depressive symptoms? A systematic review and meta-analysis

  2021cites this paper
• S2045796021000627jra 1..24

  2021cites this paper
• Retirement Effect on Health Status and Health Behaviors in Urban China.

  2020cites this paper
• Self-employment, depression, and older individuals: A cross-country study.

  2020cites this paper
• High turnover in clinical dietetics: a qualitative analysis

  2020cites this paper
• Retire – why yes, why not? Results of a study on the Czech seniors

  2020cites this paper
• Can I live with you after I retire? Retirement, old age support, and internal migration of older adults in China

  2020cites this paper
• The effect of post-retirement employment on health

  2020cites this paper
• The effect of employment on the subjective well-being of 60–80 years old people

  2020cites this paper
• The influence of old-age retirement on health: Causal evidence from the Finnish register data

  2020cites this paper
• Disuse as time away from a cognitively demanding job; how does it temporally or developmentally impact late-life cognition?

  2020cites this paper
• SOCIAL PROTECTION & JOBS

  2020cites this paper
• Depressive Symptomatology in Early Retirees Associated With Reason for Retirement—Results From the Population-Based LIFE-Adult-Study

  2020cites this paper
• Does Retirement Get Under the Skin and Into the Head? Testing the Pathway from Retirement to Cardio-Metabolic Risk, then to Episodic Memory

  2020cites this paper
• Health effects of retirement: evidence from survey and register data

  2020cites this paper
• The effect of retirement on biomedical and behavioral risk factors for cardiovascular and metabolic disease.

  2020cites this paper
• Mental Health Effects of Retirement

  2020cites this paper
• With Booze, You Lose: The Mortality Effects of Early Retirement

  2020cites this paper
• Later retirement, job strain, and health: Evidence from the new State Pension age in the United Kingdom.

  2020cites this paper
• Does retirement affect voluntary work provision? Evidence from England, Ireland and the U.S.

  2020cites this paper
• The effect of retirement on home production: evidence from Australia

  2020cites this paper
• Interactions of Work and Health: An Economic Perspective

  2020cites this paper
• Beyond the direct impact of retirement: coordination by couples in preventive and risky behaviors

  2020cites this paper
• The Retirement Migration Puzzle in China

  2020cites this paper
• USE IT TOO MUCH AND LOSE EVERYTHING? THE EFFECTS OF HOURS OF WORK ON HEALTH

  2019cites this paper
• Health effects of retirement: evidence from survey and register data

  2019cites this paper
• The effect of retirement on home production: evidence from Australia

  2019cites this paper
• The Mental Health Effects of Retirement

  2019cites this paper