Labor Participation of Retirement-Aged Workers: Understanding the Influencing Mechanism of Health Status and Social Pension Insurance Participation

Late career participation of late retirees in the age of the silver tsunami: understanding the influencing mechanism of health status and employment-based health insurance participation

Background

The delayed retirement initiative and population aging have led to a growing group of late retirees. However, it remains unclear whether the existing employment-based health insurance system can effectively match the recently proposed initiative and support late retirees, especially those with pre-existing function limitations. Thus, this study aims to investigate the influencing mechanism of China’s Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI), physical functioning limitation (PFL) and difficulty in instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) on labour participation of late retirees in China.

Methods

This study uses data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) survey, which tracks the quality of life among older adults in China (valid sample size = 5560).

Results

Empirical results show that China’s employment-based health insurance (i.e. UEBMI) and health conditions (i.e. PFL and difficulty in IADLs) are positively associated with late retirees’ withdrawal from late career participation. In addition, a higher level of difficulty in IADLs could strengthen the effect of PFL on late retirees’ withdrawal from late career participation, which could be further buffered by UEBMI beneficiary status.

Conclusion

In the formulation of delayed retirement policies, it is necessary to consider the influencing mechanism of the social health insurance system and health conditions on late career participation of older workers to ensure policy effectiveness.

Health Insurances and the Health-Related Work Capacity of Retirement-Aged Workers: A Comparative Investigation

OBJECTIVE

This study is to investigate the health-related work capacity of retirement-aged workers under the beneficiary status of different health insurance schemes in China.

METHOD

Using the data from CHARLS program, we investigate the health-related work capacity of retirement-aged workers in China (more than 60/55 years-old for men/women respectively). Multivariate regressions and robustness checks (Heckman two-stage procedures, chronological design, etc) are conducted.

RESULTS

(1) Late-life career participation could reduce the risk of declining work capacity due to health problems; (2) different social health insurances affect health-related work capacity among retirement-aged workers differently; (3) social health insurances influence the role of late-life career participation in reducing the risk of health-related work capacity, with different schemes displaying different effects (mitigate or strengthen).

CONCLUSIONS

Systematic inequity in benefit across health insurances may result in contrasting health outcomes of retirement-aged workers.