Deeg and her colleagues investigated whether there was a difference in health at retirement between older people who had more negative working conditions before they retired, and those who had more positive working conditions: "Negative working conditions are their workload. Think of repetitive movements or an awkward posture at work. But their workload can also be psychosocial: performing under time pressure, or having to concentrate very much at work. Positive conditions are your autonomy: when you work, when you take time off, how you can organise your work and how much variety in tasks you have."
The researchers used data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam, a long-term study in which older people are asked several questions. From the LASA study, the researchers took data from three decades: the years 1993-1999, 2003-2009 and 2013-2019. They focused on elderly people who retired during one of these years: their health before their retirement was compared with their health afterwards. During the LASA study, these elderly people were asked about their physical disabilities: whether they have difficulties with daily activities, such as walking, using their own transport or public transport, or changing clothes. They were also asked how they rated their health: as very good, good, going well, sometimes good and sometimes bad, or bad.
The study shows that over the years the average health of older workers has deteriorated, regardless of whether a person has had better or worse working conditions. In particular, the number of older workers with physical limitations has increased significantly in the last decade, even after retirement. In addition, their own rating of their health declined, and did not improve when they retired. Deeg: "That sounds surprising because you expect a honeymoon phase, an improvement in their view on their health once they retire. But research abroad shows that people only experience better health when they retire at a younger age."
The researchers argue that improving working conditions of older workers will improve post-retirement health. For example, by incorporating more rest in working hours, giving them more variety in tasks or even retraining them to do other tasks. The researchers also plead for a lower retirement age for workers with unfavourable working conditions, as well as more flexible retirement regulations. According to Deeg, these measures are important because otherwise the poorer health of retirees could increase the burden on healthcare: "If, as a government, you save on pensions, then people have to spend more on healthcare."
