Analysis Of The Influence Of Retirement On Mental Health Of Old People

At present,the legal retirement age in the world’s major economies is generally higher than 65 years old,and the retirement age in China is obviously low.With the increase of the retired population,the pressure of national pension payment is getting bigger and bigger,for this reason,relevant policies in China keep releasing the intention of delaying retirement.The current controversies about delayed retirement mainly focus on pensions,employment and physical health,and the impact on psychological health is often ignored.In the context of healthy aging,the psychological health of the elderly is gradually attracting social attention.In view of this,the article analyzes the impact of retirement on the mental health of the elderly in China and tries to explore its influence mechanism.Based on data from the China Health and Aging Longitudinal Study Database(CHARLS),the study firstly analyzed whether and how retirement affects the mental health of older adults from gender and job type heterogeneity using fuzzy breakpoint regression.Secondly,we explore the mechanisms of the effects of retirement on older adults’ mental health from the perspective of lifestyle and health behaviors.Then,the effect of retirement on older adults’ mental health is explored from another perspective,and propensity score matching is used to analyze whether labor force participation after retirement affects older adults’ mental health and provide reasonable explanatory notes.Finally,corresponding policy recommendations are proposed based on the results of the empirical analysis.The results show that:(1)From a gender perspective,retirement is beneficial to men’s mental health.Retirement leads to lower levels of depression and higher levels of cognition in men,and retirement significantly improves men’s mental health,but retirement does not have a significant effect on women’s mental health.In addition,higher levels of education,being married,and having health insurance all contribute significantly to mental health.(2)Further considering job type heterogeneity,it was found that retirement primarily affected the mental health of male non-managers.Retirement showed a significant positive effect on the mental health of male non-managers,while the effect of retirement on the mental health of male managers and female non-managers was not significant.(3)Retired male non-managers improved their mental health mainly through an increase in socially engaged behaviours.Retirement significantly increased social participation behaviors,while lunch break length,exercise frequency,and intergenerational care did not change significantly after retirement.(4)Labor participation had a significant negative effect on the mental health of retired male non-managers.This also indicates from another perspective that retirement is beneficial to the mental health of male non-managers,and when retired male non-managers re-enter the labor market,their mental health is worse than that of individuals who no longer engage in labor force participation after retirement.Finally,four suggestions are made for the above analysis findings: to develop a differentiated flexible retirement policy,to pay attention to the psychological health of male non-managers,to encourage retired workers to participate in social activities,and to protect the legal rights and interests of the elderly in re-employment.