Older Adults’ Accounts of the Relationships between Retirement Timing and Health: A Qualitative Analysis

• In Event: 4365 - Social Policies to Mitigate Health Inequalities Among Older Adults Around the World

Abstract

The timing of retirement can have important implications for the health of older adults. Extant literature considers four competing approaches about when to retire in order to maximize health: later, earlier, on time, and anytime. This academic conceptual model, however, is largely based on quantitative studies conducted in high-income countries and provides little information about how ordinary older adults view these approaches. This qualitative study examines the views that older adults living in a developing country have about the relationship between retirement timing and health, and explores variation in these views by gender and type of lifetime occupation as a marker of class. Framework analysis was conducted on a dataset comprised of accounts from six focus groups, stratified by gender and class, including a total of 40 older Chileans. Views of ordinary older adults about when to retire in order to maximize health did not conform to the four pre-defined categories of the academic conceptual model (later, earlier, on time, and anytime). Instead, patterns of views shared by older adults emphasized that the ideal retirement age depends on a variety of factors, such as quality of employment and financial resources at the time of retirement. These views were socially structured, with females and lower occupational-class participants being relatively more favorable toward earlier retirement than males and higher occupational-class participants. Qualitative analyses show divergence between lay perspectives and dominant academic conceptual models, highlight gender and class patterns, and suggest that different combinations of characteristics of retirement transitions have different health consequences.

Authors

• Robin Shura, Kent State University at Stark

• Esteban Calvo, UM & Columbia University

• Sebastian Opazo, Laboratory on Aging and Social Epidemiology, Universidad Mayor, Chile