The Effects of Retirement on Health
by Itzik (Yizhak) Fadlon, Harvard University
The goal of this project is to analyze the effects of retirement on the health and wellbeing of older workers, by analyzing the effects of working near retirement age. The analysis will be divided into two main groups of health outcomes – physical and mental – since their respective hypotheses diverge. We will focus on the potential heterogeneity of these effects across several dimensions – occupation, education, initial health and wealth – as well as on the timing of these effects – whether changes in health start upon retirement or in anticipation of it. In addition, we will analyze the different effects on health of transitioning to retirement from full-time work and of a more gradual transition, from full-time to part-time to retirement.