Drent, N. (2020) Who is retiring early: The wealthy or the unhealthy? Master thesis.
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Final version master thesis. NDrent. S2764083. 1.7.2020. A.Remund.pdf Download (775kB) | Preview |
Abstract
Objectives This research is questioning: ‘’ How does health and wealth explain educational differences in retirement timing?“. In almost all OECD countries, the real retirement age is lower than the eligibility retirement age. What drives those individuals to retire before their official retirement age? Socioeconomic status has an influence on health and wealth. This research focusses on the contribution of health and wealth indicators on early, late, or retirement at the official age, and recognizes that there is a strong correlation between health- and wealth-status. Methods The influence of health and wealth status is weighed against each other to determine which of the two has a strong influence on the timing of retirement. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to analyse data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) wave five on the timing of retirement. This research used 555 retired older adults (50+) in the Netherlands between 2012 and 2013. Relative risk ratios (RRR) were calculated to determine whether, relative to those who retired on time, who retired early or late. Results Gender is an essential factor in retirement timing. Females are more likely than males to retire on-time instead of early or late. Education plays an essential role in early retirement decisions. Individuals with high or middle level of education tend to retire earlier than their counterparts with low levels of education. Whit larger household wealth, it is more likely to retire early instead of on time. Previous health status does not have significant influences on early retirement timing. Mobility limitation and chronic disease make it more likely to retire on time instead of early. Conclusions Individuals with lower education are less likely to retire before the official retirement age. That is despite being at worse health at this age and because of insufficient assets. This means that individuals with low socioeconomic status are most affected by the increase of the official retirement age since they have shorter live expectancy and shorter healthy live expectancy. Therefore, individuals with lower socioeconomic status spend less of their retirement time in good health. This inequality is made even worse because, despite being in worse health, they cannot compensate for it by retiring earlier, unlike people with higher education who have the financial means to do so. In the end wealth status is more predictive in retirement timing decisions than health status.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Master) |
|---|---|
| Degree programme: | Population Studies |
| Supervisor: | Remund, A.P.P. and Vogt, T.C. |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Aug 2020 09:41 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Aug 2020 09:41 |
| URI: | https://frw.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/3304 |
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