Retirement not good for your health in mid and long term, says British study

Working longer can help people live healthier lives, says Philip Booth from the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) while commenting on the study the body published recently that discovered that retirement has a negative effect on people’s health in the medium and long term, BBC reports.

People should not stop working after retirement age. It is not good for their health, not to mention the economic consequences.
The study was carried out by the IEA together with the Age Endeavour Fellowship, a charity. They compared two groups of retired people: those who continue working and those who stop working after retirement age.

The findings were that after a small boost in health shortly after retirement there was registered a significant decline in the longer term.
Chances to get clinical depression increase by 40% after retirement, the study says. Retired people are 60% likely to have health complaints.

The detrimental impact does not make difference between men and women.
Edward Datnow from the Age Endeavour Fellowship says there should be a more flexible approach to ‘normal’ retirement age in future.