Does Employment Improve Health Status of the Elderly?: Seeking Evidence From Korea

Korea is experiencing population dynamics, heading to a rapidly aging society. The improved health and longevity of the Korean elderly enable them to actively work and contribute to the society beyond the traditional retirement age. Several studies in other countries have documented that employment of the elderly has a positive influence on their quality of life and health status. However, limited studies assessed the impacts of employment status of the elderly on their physical and mental health in the Korean social and cultural context. Thus, in this study, we examine the influence of employment status on physical and mental health of the Korean elderly. We focus on the differential effects of employment status on physical and mental health along with gender and socio-economic lines. Face-to-face interviews were conducted on 1,220 elderly who participated in ‘Public Job Creation Program for Elderly' during the period of 2004-2008. A potential problem of endogenity (healthy worker effect) was addressed by adopting two mutually-complementary approaches: collecting comparison data from Eligible Non-Participants (ENPs) and utilizing Instrumental Variable (IV) estimation technique. The analyses results indicated that employment status is significantly associated with overall health status of the elderly. However, the effects of employment on health were different by individual characteristics and residential areas. The study results suggest that the elderly employment is not only beneficial for economic security, but also for improvement of health outcomes of the elderly.