Work, retirement, health and care: an introduction to the WHERL project

RESEARCH SEMINAR SERIES:”WORK, RETIREMENT, HEALTH AND CARE: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE WHERL PROJECT”
Location: Room K6.63
Category: Seminar
When: 15/04/2015 (13:00-14:30)

Karen Glaser (KCL) , Laurie M. Corna (KCL), Loretta G. Platts (KCL) , Diana Worts(University of Toronto), Debora Price (KCL) and Peggy McDonough (University of Toronto):

“Work, retirement, health and care: An introduction to the WHERL project”

Abstract: Increases to average life expectancy, declining fertility, and the movement of the ‘baby-boom’ cohorts into the traditional retirement years, have all fuelled concerns about individual financial wellbeing in later life and the sustainability of public pensions. The response – implemented in various forms and to varying degrees cross-nationally- involves packages of reforms that limit or close alternative early labour market exit pathways (e.g., via disability pensions) and increase the age at which individuals become eligible for a public pension. However, the emphasis on the promised ‘double dividend’ of longer working lives –greater personal income for the individual and postponed reliance on public pension schemes—has obscured attention from how these changes have the potential to exacerbate existing disparities and generate new forms of inequality (financial, health, or otherwise). It also fails to address the (in)compatibility of paid work and informal care.

In this presentation we introduce the programme of research addressed in the Well-being, Health, Retirement and the Lifecourse (WHERL) project. WHERL is a cross-research council funded consortium that aims to assess the lifecourse determinants and consequences for health and wellbeing of working up to and beyond state pension age, with a particular focus on social inequalities. We will present the results from the first work package that models the very detailed employment and family histories of current cohorts of older adults showing how gender and cohort have important implications for understanding the lives of older adults as they approach the traditional retirement years. We also present some preliminary findings on the associations between employment histories, social circumstances at age 55 and subsequent employment
For more information on Research Seminar Series, please visit this LINK