Aging and diabetes : impact on employment and retirement

Abstract

Aging and diabetes influence employment and retirement of those older than 50.The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of diabetes on the ability to work or retire, and to investigate if the development of new job skills, for seniors aged more than 50, increase professional activity in a set of European countries. The fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) has been explored by using categorical models that control for age, gender, marital status, education level, new skills and country factors. Diabetes decreases the probable level of professional activity and prolongs retirement. Disparities have been found in the impact of diabetes on peoples' working situation in certain countries, which may be explained through the type of treatments of diabetes and overall by the specificities of each country's health systems. Finally, ageing only slightly increases the period of working, not enough to avoid earlier retirement globally in those European countries.