older female worker on online meeting with photos of coworkers online around her

A new paper links longer working lives to health and longevity, arguing that "age-based" retirement policies have led to a depletion of retirement and social security resources, as well as flawed perceptions of older workers.

The paper, authored by the president and the executive director of the Age Friendly Foundation, says that the "very definition of retirement" should be reconsidered in light of data suggesting that traditional retirement can be detrimental to worker's financial, mental and physical health.

For businesses, a higher retirement age could mean less turnover and more institutional knowledge for staff, which ultimately leads to more stability and increased customer satisfaction, the report argues.

For aging workers, the paper says, a longer work life would also help keep people engaged in their communities, offering opportunities for learning, reasoning and social engagement. An increased sense of belonging, it argues, would help stave off cognitive decline.

"There is a strong positive correlation between employment, social engagement, and longevity. Facilitating continued or new employment of older workers not only adds more years to those individuals' lives, but also adds more 'life' to their later years," the authors write. "When looking at increases in longevity, we need to characterize these additional years as added to the middle of one's life rather than the end."

The paper, titled "Working Longer Solves (Almost) Everything: The Correlation Between Employment, Social Engagement and Longevity," was published July 8 through the Wharton Pension Research Council at the University of Pennsylvania. It was authored by Amanda Henshon and Tim Driver of the Age Friendly Foundation, a Massachusetts-based nonprofit that "supports healthy, active and productive aging" through advocacy, education and engaging thought leaders in aging services.

Henshon, a former corporate lawyer at Ropes & Gray, serves as the group's executive director, and Driver, the president of Age Friendly Foundation's board, is the founder and CEO of Age Friendly Ventures, the parent organization of RetirementJobs.com, Mature Caregivers and Age Friendly Advisor.

The paper cites a 2020 survey by RetirementJobs.com and Age Friendly Foundation, which found that unemployed older workers had significantly less social interactions than their employed counterparts. Those who do opt to work in retirement prefer a job that is new to them, that survey found.

"There is a trend underway toward working longer, suggesting people are willing and feeling the need to convert their sustained health into more years of work," the paper says. "Realizing this change, however, does not necessarily come easily for all older adults."

According to the authors, nearly one in three people between the ages of 65 and 69, and one in five between the ages of 70 and 74, are currently working, a participation rate that was up 50% in the last 20 years.

"Working longer addresses economic pressure on older adults and adds health benefits. Yet it remains a substantial challenge for these older adults to find jobs in later years," the authors say.

"Many employers still need to be convinced of the value of employing older workers."

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