By Felicity Duncan
My mother worked as a primary school teacher for close to 40 years. She retired a couple of years ago. At first, she was content to potter around the house and catch up on her reading and TV. But after a few months, she decided to get back into the workforce. She now does extra lessons with struggling learners for about 10 hours a week, and she spends another 5 or so hours working with kids who have learning disabilities, doing tasks like scribing. The rest of her time is spent exercising with friends, playing bridge, and seeing family.
My father has been self-employed for decades. Although in his late 60s, he still heads into his office regularly and consults on a range of projects, as well as a few other ventures. He spends a lot of time traveling and socialising, but always makes time for work too.
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For both my parents, working after traditional retirement age has several benefits. It provides extra income, of course, but also offers socialisation and travel opportunities, mental stimulation, and an incentive to get out and about.
A growing body of research suggests that my folks are onto a good thing – staying in the workforce longer can have important physical and mental health benefits. This is not to say, obviously, that everyone should work full-time until they die. But people gearing up for full retirement may want to think about ways to remain connected to the workforce in order to enjoy the benefits of working.
- Mental engagement
Cognition declines with age. People’s mental processes get slower as they age – they have trouble recalling words and their mathematical ability declines. However, a fairly large body of research shows that this process is accelerated by early retirement. Various studies have shown that those who retire early experience faster cognitive decline than those who wait for normal retirement age, and those who work past normal retirement age decline more slowly than those who retire at the normal age. Overall, working longer may actually stave off dementia.
There are some caveats – some researchers argue that cognitive decline causes early retirement rather than the other way around. But some ingenious studies have provided evidence that this is not the case. Rather, the balance of evidence is that working keeps your brain sharper and retiring causes your faculties to slow.
This is especially true for mentally (but not physically) challenging jobs like my parents’. It’s also especially true for jobs that let you learn new skills. On the other hand, physically challenging but mentally numbing jobs, like some types of routine factory work, would do little for older folks’ brains while stressing their physical health.
- Social networking
One of the biggest challenges for older people is remaining socially engaged. Huge amounts of research show that social connection is one of the best things available for our health and that loneliness is a killer. Social connections keep us mentally alert and emotionally healthy, and they give us purpose and meaning.
Read also: How to stay young: Skip retirement, get a job – and lose weight!
Retirement causes people’s social networks to shrink, and the earlier people retire, the more profound the result. Workplaces, on the other hand, are socially rich environments that force us to engage with others. These engagements help stave off the emotional and cognitive effects of loneliness, even if relations with co-workers are more formal than friendly. As one study puts it, “Even disliked colleagues and a bad boss are better than social isolation because they provide cognitive challenges that keep the mind active and healthy.”
- Purpose & activity
On occasion, I have nothing scheduled for the weekend. On those truly lazy days, I often spend the whole day in my pyjamas and skip my shower. Many retired people do something similar. But in their case, the lazy days are endless.
Having a job can help provide a sense of purpose for older people and give them an incentive to stay active. Getting up and dressed for work and travelling to the office can boost mood and help prevent depression. Depending on the nature of the job, work may even help people stay physically stronger.
- Money
Part-time work can provide people who have retired from full-time employment with extra income, while delaying retirement and staying in your job longer can give you additional years of retirement savings. This can indirectly benefit health – it can reduce the financial stress associated with retirement (when savings may not be enough to keep up with costs) and can provide additional years of medical insurance that can help people access preventative care and reduce the medical costs associated with retirement.
As people live longer and healthier lives, the traditional model of retirement makes less and less sense. And as jobs become more sedentary and flexible, with work-from-home arrangements and part-time options increasingly popular, retirement at age 65, when many people are still healthy, fit, and engaged, is crazy. Longer and more flexible working lives will relieve pressure on retirement funding, stave off the impact of a shrinking working age population, and help keep older people mentally, emotionally, and physically healthy for longer.
