Impact of later retirement on mortality: Evidence from France

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of delaying retirement on mortality among the French population. We take advantage of the 1993 pension reform in the private sector to identify the causal effect of an increase in claiming age on mortality. We use administrative data which provide detailed information on career characteristics, dates of birth and death. Our results, precisely estimated, show that an exogenous increase of one year in the claiming age has no significant impact on the probability to die, measured between age 61 and 79, even when we allow for nonlinear effects of treatment intensity. To test the power of our sample to detect statistically significant effects for rare events like death, we compute minimum detectable effects (MDEs). Our MDE estimates suggest that, if an impact of later retirement on mortality would be detectable, it would remain very small in magnitude.

Would It Kill You to Retire? Testing Short/Long Term/Recurrent Effects of Retirement on All-Cause Mortality Risk

“…Even with these caveats that limit our understanding of “hows and whys” of retirement effects, the findings do shed light on the broad policy question posed earlier; would retirement policies prolonging work years be detrimental to the health of older adults? The findings are in alignment with other studies that suggest a no (Bozio et al, 2021; Han, 2021; Sewdas et al, 2020). In the context of policy, the findings call for a nuanced approach.…”

“…A growing body of studies has examined all-cause mortality as a potential health outcome of retirement (Wu et al, 2016). One most recent metaanalysis of dozen studies concludes that, in agreement of other studies, retirement regardless of its timing relative to a statutory retirement age does not affect mortality once health prior to retirement is taken into account (Bozio et al, 2021;Carlsson et al, 2012;Hult et al, 2010;Sewdas et al, 2020).…”

Is there a consensus on the health consequences of retirement? A literature review

“…Bozio et al. (2021) measure the causal impact of later retirement and find a non‐significant impact between ages 61 and 65—see row (3), between ages 65 and 72—see row (1), and between ages 72 and 79—see row (2). Coe and Lindeboom (2008) measure the effect of early retirement on the probability to die within 4 years—see row (1), within 6 years—see row (2).…”

Does retirement affect secondary preventive care use? Evidence from breast cancer screening

“…There is a large literature investigating the health effects of retirement ( Bloemen et al, 2017 , Bozio et al, 2021 , Celidoni and Rebba, 2017 , Coe and Zamarro, 2011 , De Grip et al, 2012 , Eibich, 2015 , Grøtting and Lillebø, 2020 , Hallberg et al, 2015 , Insler, 2014 , Nishimura et al, 2018 ), with studies reporting contrasting findings even for similar health outcomes and institutional contexts (see, e.g., Rose, 2020 and Behncke, 2012 for England; or Dave et al, 2008 and Insler, 2014 for the U.S.). 3 At the same time, several studies find that health is positively associated with participation in breast cancer screening ( Bouckaert and Schokkaert, 2016 , Carrieri and Wuebker, 2016 , Courtney-Long et al, 2011 , Gandhi et al, 2015 , Guilcher et al, 2014 , Jensen et al, 2015 , Wu, 2003 ).…”

“…However, there remains considerable heterogeneity, e.g., across countries or health outcomes. For example, while all studies focusing on cognitive functioning find negative effects of retirement ( Bingley and Martinello, 2013 , Bonsang et al, 2012 , Mazzonna and Peracchi, 2016 , Mazzonna and Peracchi, 2012 , Rohwedder and Willis, 2010 ), studies focusing on mortality mostly find a reduction in mortality ( Bloemen et al, 2017 , Bozio et al, 2021 , Hallberg et al, 2015 ) or no significant effects ( Hagen, 2018 , Hernaes et al, 2013 ) with two studies reporting an increase in mortality after retirement ( Fitzpatrick and Moore, 2018 , Kuhn et al, 2020 ).…”