Arbeitspapier

Retirement and loneliness

We investigate the short- and long-term effects of retirement on loneliness using panel data from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe. To estimate causal effects, we exploit differences in retirement eligibility rules across and within countries and use retirement thresholds in an instrumental variable setting. On average, we find that entering retirement leads to a significant reduction in loneliness in the long run, although our results show no clear effect in the short run. The reduction is driven by individuals being less likely to feel socially isolated and lacking companionship. Our results suggest that individuals adapt to retirement by increasing their activity levels and reap the benefits in terms of reduced loneliness and social isolation. Heterogeneity analysis by gender reveals that retirement increases feelings of loneliness for women in the short term, and that this effect appears to be driven by women lacking companionship when their partner is not yet retired.

ISBN
978-3-96973-217-5
Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: Ruhr Economic Papers ; No. 1048

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Retirement; Retirement Policies
Economics of the Elderly; Economics of the Handicapped; Non-labor Market Discrimination
Health: General
Thema
Loneliness
social isolation
retirement
instrumental variable
causal effect

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Guthmuller, Sophie
Heger, Dörte
Hollenbach, Johannes
Werbeck, Anna
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung
(wo)
Essen
(wann)
2023

DOI
doi:10.4419/96973217
Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Guthmuller, Sophie
  • Heger, Dörte
  • Hollenbach, Johannes
  • Werbeck, Anna
  • RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung

Entstanden

  • 2023

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