Why life gets better after age 50, for some: mental well-being and the social norm of work

Coen van de Kraats (), Titus Galama and Maarten Lindeboom ()
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Coen van de Kraats: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Maarten Lindeboom: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and Monash University

No 2023-03, Working Papers from Centre for Health Economics, Monash University

Abstract: We provide evidence that the social norm (expectation) of work has a detrimental causal effect on the mental well-being of individuals not able to abide by it. Using SHARE data on men aged 50+ from 10 European countries, we identify the social norm of work effect in a difference-in-differences model that compares mental well-being scores of unemployed/disabled individuals (the treatment group) with those of employed/retired individuals (the control group) at varying levels of the fraction of retirees of comparable age. The initial mental well-being gap at age 50 is large, with unemployed/disabled men experiencing substantially lower levels of mental well-being, comparable to, e.g., the detriment of being widowed. Beyond age 50, the mental well-being of unemployed and disabled men improves as peers of comparable age retire, and full convergence occurs generally at an age that is slightly above the normal retirement age, when everyone has retired.

Keywords: mental well-being; social norm of work; retirement institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D63 I10 I31 J60 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age, nep-eur, nep-hea, nep-lab and nep-ltv
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Working Paper: Why Life Gets Better after Age 50 For Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work (2022)
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