Physical and cognitive capability in mid-adulthood as determinants of retirement and extended
                    working life in a British cohort study

Cooper, Rachel; Cadar, Dorina; Carr, Ewan; Murray, Emily; Richards, Marcus; Stansfeld, Stephen; Zaninotto, Paola; Head, Jenny; Kuh, Diana

doi:10.5271/sjweh.3589

Cited by 29 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…When studying the effects of retirement on cognition, it is important to consider reverse causality. Declines in cognitive function may negatively affect the management of work tasks and thus could be a determinant of the decision to retire [ 31 , 32 ]. For example, chronic diseases, such as stroke, might affect both cognitive function and retirement decisions [ 33 , 34 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of retirement on cognitive function: the Whitehall II cohort study

et al. 2017

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According to the ‘use it or lose it’ hypothesis, a lack of mentally challenging activities might exacerbate the loss of cognitive function. On this basis, retirement has been suggested to increase the risk of cognitive decline, but evidence from studies with long follow-up is lacking. We tested this hypothesis in a cohort of 3433 civil servants who participated in the Whitehall II Study, including repeated measurements of cognitive functioning up to 14 years before and 14 years after retirement. Piecewise models, centred at the year of retirement, were used to compare trajectories of verbal memory, abstract reasoning, phonemic verbal fluency, and semantic verbal fluency before and after retirement. We found that all domains of cognition declined over time. Declines in verbal memory were 38% faster after retirement compared to before, after taking account of age-related decline. In analyses stratified by employment grade, higher employment grade was protective against verbal memory decline while people were still working, but this ‘protective effect’ was lost when individuals retired, resulting in a similar rate of decline post-retirement across employment grades. We did not find a significant impact of retirement on the other cognitive domains. In conclusion, these findings are consistent with the hypothesis that retirement accelerates the decline in verbal memory function. This study points to the benefits of cognitively stimulating activities associated with employment that could benefit older people’s memory.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s10654-017-0347-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of retirement on cognitive function: the Whitehall II cohort study

et al. 2017

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“…A meta-analysis showed that self-rated poor health was a risk factor for disability benefit (relative risk (RR) 3.61), unemployment (RR 1.44), and early retirement (RR 1.27) (3). Chronic diseases and limitations in daily activities also have been found to increase the likelihood of exit from paid employment (4,5).…”

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confidence: 99%

The contribution of health to educational inequalities in exit from paid employment in five European regions

Schuring¹,

Schram²,

Robroek³

et al. 2019

Scand J Work Environ Health

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In all European regions, lower-educated workers have higher risks of leaving paid employment due to disability benefits and unemployment than those with higher education. This disadvantaged position of lower-educated persons is primarily due to a higher prevalence of poor health. Given the presence of health problems, the risk of exit from paid employment is comparable across educational levels.Objectives The primary aim of this study was to investigate educational inequalities in health-related exit from paid employment through different pathways in five European regions. A secondary objective was to estimate the proportion of different routes out of paid employment that can be attributed to poor health across educational groups in five European regions. MethodsLongitudinal data from 2005 up to 2014 were obtained from the four-year rotating panel of the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), including 337 444 persons with 1 056 779 observations from 25 countries. Cox proportional hazards models with censoring for competing events were used to examine associations between health problems and exit from paid employment. The population attributable fraction was calculated to quantify the impact of health problems on labor force exit. ResultsIn all European regions, lower-educated workers had higher risks of leaving paid employment due to disability benefits [relative inequality (RI) 3.3-6.2] and unemployment (RI 1.9-4.5) than those with higher education. The fraction of exit from paid employment that could be attributed to poor health varied between the five European regions among lower-educated persons from 0.06-0.21 and among higher-educated workers from 0.03-0.09. The disadvantaged position of lower-educated persons on the labor market was primarily due to a higher prevalence of poor health. ConclusionIn all European regions, educational inequalities exist in health-related exclusion from paid employment. Policy measures are needed to reduce educational inequalities in exit from paid employment due to poor health.

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“…Yet even if all social classes left work at the same age, class differences in life expectancy means that lower classes will live fewer years after stopping work than professional classes. Some researchers have suggested that SPA should directly reflect life expectancy differences, 38 where retirement eligibility age is determined by the type of job. 39 Alternatively, the eligibility age requirement could be dropped, so that State Pension eligibility is solely determined by 14 accumulation of years of full-time equivalent work.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…39 Alternatively, the eligibility age requirement could be dropped, so that State Pension eligibility is solely determined by 14 accumulation of years of full-time equivalent work. 38 The recent Independent Review of the State Pension argued for keeping a uniform SPA out of the principle of universality for the pension benefit, but to mitigate disadvantage through a means-tested one year early SPA for those who are unable to work through ill health or caring responsibilities. 1 We believe a two-year early SPA may be more appropriate for individuals who work in manual occupations, given that they leave work a year earlier than professional workers not in good health.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inequalities in time from stopping paid work to death: findings from the ONS Longitudinal Study, 2001–2011

Murray

Carr

Zaninotto

et al. 2019

J Epidemiol Community Health

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Background: United Kingdom State pension eligibility ages are linked to average life expectancy, which ignores wide socioeconomic disparities in health, and overall, life expectancy.Objectives: Investigate whether there are occupational social class differences in the amount of time older adults live after they stop work, and how much of these differences are due to health. Methods: Participants were 76 485 members of the ONS Longitudinal Study (LS), who were 50-75y at the 2001 census and had stopped work by the 2011 census. Over 10 years of followup, we used censored linear regression to estimate mean differences in years between stopping work and death by occupational social class. Results: After adjustment for age, both social class and health were independent predictors of post-work duration [Mean difference (95% CI): Unskilled class vs Professional 2.7yrs (2.4, 3.1);not good vs good health 2.4yrs (1.9; 2.9)], with LS members in the three manual classes experiencing ~1 additional year of post-work duration than professional workers (interaction pvalues all <0.001). Further adjustment for gender and educational qualifications reduced, but did not eliminate social class and post-work duration associations. We estimate the difference in post-work years between professional classes in good health and unskilled workers not in good health as 5.1 years for women (21.0 vs 26.1) and 5.5 years for men (19.5 vs 25.0). Conclusions:Lower social class groups are negatively affected by uniform state pension ages, because they are more likely to stop work at younger ages due to health reasons.

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Physical and cognitive capability in mid-adulthood as determinants of retirement and extended working life in a British cohort study

Cited by 29 publications

References 29 publications

Effect of retirement on cognitive function: the Whitehall II cohort study

Effect of retirement on cognitive function: the Whitehall II cohort study

The contribution of health to educational inequalities in exit from paid employment in five European regions

Inequalities in time from stopping paid work to death: findings from the ONS Longitudinal Study, 2001–2011

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