4.L. Scientific session: Post-retirement health and wellbeing

Abstract Leaving work and entering retirement is an important life transition, impacting e.g. time use, identity, and social contacts. In recent years, retirement as an institution has become increasingly fragmented across different pathways and transitions, and several countries have introduced flexible retirement ages instead of a fixed retirement age. In addition to the traditional retirement transition (i.e., a full exit from the labour market to receive a public pension at the normative/statutory age) or early retirement (often through disability pension systems), phased or gradual retirement, extended careers, “bridge jobs” and returning to work after retirement are increasingly common. Both the timing of and pathways to retirement are contingent on social policies and contexts that promote different types of continuation or withdrawal from paid work in older ages. The retirement transition may have consequences for health, health behaviours, and well-being, which can be both positive and negative depending on pre-retirement factors (such as health, lifestyle, and working conditions), the nature of the retirement transition (such as age at retirement, if the retirement was voluntary or not, and if it was due to health reasons or not), and post-retirement factors (such as social contacts, economic situation, and lifestyle). There are also socioeconomic differences in the impact of retirement on health. This workshop will summarise current knowledge about post-retirement health and well-being, as well as look toward future directions. The workshop will present results from both original empirical studies and systematic reviews, as well as a new conceptual framework to study retirement transitions in comparative analyses. It will consist of four contributions from four European universities. Prof. Sari Stenholm from University of Turku, Finland, will present cutting-edge results from the Finnish Retirement and Aging study regarding changes in health behaviours in the retirement transition. Dr. Giacomo Pietro Vigezzi from University of Pavia, Italy, will present an overview of reviews on post-retirement health, health behaviours and wellbeing, highlighting evidence, evidence gaps and methodological issues within the area, and provide recommendations for future research and policy. Dr. Brian Beach from Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, will present a typology of different retirement transitions based on the timing and pathways of the retirement transition that can be adapted to different policy contexts and serve as a comparative framework for future studies in the area. Finally, Prof. Hugo Westerlund from Stockholm University, Sweden, will synthesise the main themes of the presentations and set the stage for the audience discussion. A third of the workshop time will be set aside for audience interaction and participation. Key messages • Health and wellbeing after retirement depends on work-related characteristics, the type of retirement transition, and socioeconomic factors pre- and post-retirement. • Studying the complex interplay of pre-, peri- and post-retirement factors, health and wellbeing requires both methodological and theoretical development.