Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work

Coen van de Kraats, Titus Galama, Maarten Lindeboom and Zichen Deng

Journal of Labor Economics, 2026, vol. 44, issue 4, 1065 - 1087

Abstract: We provide evidence that the social norm (expectation) that adults work has a substantial detrimental causal effect on the mental well-being of unemployed men in midlife, as substantial as, for example, the detriment of being widowed. As their peers in age retire and the social norm weakens, the mental well-being of the unemployed improves. Using data on individuals aged 50 and over from 10 European countries, we identify the social norm of work effect using exogenous variation in the earliest eligibility age for old-age public pensions across countries and birth cohorts.

Date: 2026
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