|
This week sees the celebration of the UN's International Day of Older Persons. The theme for 2018 highlights the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and "reaffirms the commitment to promoting the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by older persons."
Almost 700 million people worldwide are now over 60, a number which is expected to increase to 1.4 billion by 2030. The needs and challenges faced by older people therefore require greater attention.
Late-life workers, whether part-time or full-time, have higher levels of well-being than retirees, writes Carol Graham. "Higher levels of well-being are in turn associated with better health and greater productivity, suggesting that the benefits of such arrangements could extend beyond the individual to society."
Graham suggests that, "At a time when unemployment, workforce productivity, and health problems related to an aging population present multifaceted challenges, exploring the potential contribution of flexible work arrangements in meeting these challenges is a low-risk and potentially high pay-off proposition."
Once workers do retire, the available research suggests that there is “considerable variation in the health effects of retirement across different contexts and/or subpopulations.” While the complex effects of retirement on health make it difficult to derive firm policy recommendations, Andreas Kuhn writes that “given that retirees’ health behavior is the primary causal mechanism, it might be worthwhile to think about instruments to encourage good health behavior among retirees (e.g. by providing subsidies for services promoting good health).”
Read further articles on retirement and late-life work:
|
