Diet after retirement: Does working after retirement matter?

• Název práce v češtině: Stravování ve stáří: vliv pracovního zapojení
• Název v anglickém jazyce: Diet after retirement: Does working after retirement matter?
• Klíčová slova: pracovní zapojení, odchod do důchodu, zdravá strava, chování, penzisté, Evropa, SHARE
• Klíčová slova anglicky: working after retirement, retirement, healthy diet, consumption, retirees, Europe, SHARE
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2020/2021
• Typ práce: diplomová práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Institut ekonomických studií (23-IES)
• Vedoucí / školitel: PhDr. Mgr. Jana Votápková, Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem
• Datum přihlášení: 30.06.2021
• Datum zadání: 30.06.2021
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 01.02.2023 09:00
• Místo konání obhajoby: Opletalova - Opletalova 26, O105, Opletalova - místn. č. 105
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 03.01.2023
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 01.02.2023
• Oponenti: doc. Paola Bertoli, M.A., M.Sc., D.Phil.

Seznam odborné literatury

Beehr, T. A., & Bennett, M. M. (2015). Working after retirement: Features of bridge employment
and research directions. Work, Aging and Retirement, 1(1), 112-128.
Celidoni, M., Dal Bianco, C., Rebba, V., & Weber, G. (2020). Retirement and Healthy Eating.
Fiscal studies, 41(1), 199-219.
Dingemans, E., & Henkens, K. (2019). Working after retirement and life satisfaction: Crossnational
comparative research in Europe. Research on Aging, 41(7), 648-669.
Fisher, J. D., Johnson, D. S., Marchand, J., Smeeding, T. M., & Torrey, B. B. (2008). The
retirement consumption conundrum: Evidence from a consumption survey. Economics Letters,
99(3), 482-485.
Helldán, A., Lallukka, T., Rahkonen, O., & Lahelma, E. (2012). Changes in healthy food habits
after transition to old age retirement. The European Journal of Public Health, 22(4), 582-586.
Irz, X., Fratiglioni, L., Kuosmanen, N., Mazzocchi, M., Modugno, L., Nocella, G., & Zanello, G.
(2014). Sociodemographic determinants of diet quality of the EU elderly: a comparative analysis
in four countries. Public health nutrition, 17(5), 1177-118.
Key, T. J., Schatzkin, A., Willett, W. C., Allen, N. E., Spencer, E. A., & Travis, R. C. (2004).
Diet, nutrition and the prevention of cancer. Public health nutrition, 7(1a), 187-200.
Nie, P., & Sousa-Poza, A. (2016). Food insecurity among older Europeans: Evidence from the
Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (No. 03-2016). Hohenheim Discussion
Papers in Business, Economics and Social Sciences.
Plessz, M., Guéguen, A., Goldberg, M., Czernichow, S., & Zins, M. (2015). Ageing, retirement
and changes in vegetable consumption in France: findings from the prospective GAZEL cohort.
British Journal of Nutrition, 114(6), 979-987.
Reddy, K. S., & Katan, M. B. (2004). Diet, nutrition and the prevention of hypertension and
cardiovascular diseases. Public health nutrition, 7(1a), 167-186.
Wolfe, R. R. (2015). Update on protein intake: importance of milk proteins for health status of
the elderly. Nutrition reviews, 73(suppl_1), 41-47.
World Bank. (2022, January 18). World Bank: Life expectancy at birth. Retrieved from
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.DYN.LE00.IN

Předběžná náplň práce v anglickém jazyce

Research Question and Motivation

The life expectancy is increasing rapidly in developed countries. In the Czech Republic, the life
expectancy at birth was over 79 years in 2019, while at the beginning of the century it was less
than 75 years (World Bank, 2022). As the population grows older, ensuring healthy aging for the
older population should be a major public health interest not only from the ethical perspective
but also from the economical perspective because the expenditures on health care account for a
large proportion of the GDP and are growing continuously.
Healthy eating patterns are often associated with good health, prevention of major diseases,
longevity, and thus better quality of life (Key, et al., 2004; Reddy & Katan, 2004). And the
right nutrition has been proven as important at any age, including the elderly (Wolfe, 2015;
Helldán, et al., 2012). Many studies focused on the relationship between retirement and healthy
eating habits; however, the conclusions are not unified (Fisher, et al., 2008; Helldán, et al., 2012;
Plessz, et al., 2015). The positive relationships are mostly explained by more free time for meal
preparation, on the other hand, the negative ones are justified by not having enough financial
resources.
Nowadays, participation in the workforce after retirement is becoming more common in Europe
(Beehr & Bennett, 2015). The impact of working after retirement on different aspects of life
has been analyzed; however, there is not enough research about the effect of participation in
the workforce after retirement on food consumption. The additional income could be expected
to be at least partly spent on higher quality, healthier, or more nutritious food. However, for
example, Irz et al., 2014 found a negative or no relationship between poor dietary choices among
the elderly and insufficient resources.
Studies regarding working after retirement, food, and health using SHARE data were already
published; however, to my knowledge, none of them analyzed the data in order to show the effect
of additional income after retirement on healthy food habits (Nie & Sousa-Poza, 2016; Dingemans
& Henkens, 2019; Celidoni, et al., 2020). Therefore, I will enrich the existing literature by
studying the effect of working after retirement on healthy food habits among retirees in Europe.
This thesis may be generalized as an income-substitution effect analysis. If a positive correlation
between decreased income of retires and unhealthy food habits is found, we suggest that the
income effect takes place indicating that food habits may improve with additional income. In
case of negative correlation results, the substitution effect prevails which would most probably
result from an additional time because of fewer work obligations. The income-substitution
effect analysis may however be applied to the whole population with some limitations only
stemming from the fact that the elderly are expected to be more interested in their health as
health deteriorates with age and the elderly face fewer years left in good health than younger
generations.

Hypotheses

The following hypotheses will be tested:
1. Hypothesis #1: Does working after retirement (as a measure of additional income) have a
positive effect on the consumption of foods that are considered healthy?
2. Hypothesis #2: What other characteristics influence the consumption of healthy foods?
3. Hypothesis #3: Do the results change for different European regions?
4. Hypothesis #4: Do the results change for OLS and DiD methodology?

Methodology

To conduct the analysis, I will use the SHARE survey (Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement
in Europe). The data were collected between 2004 and 2021 and include health, social, and
economic variables.
Multiple dependent variables will be tested, namely the consumption of fruits and vegetables,
the consumption of legumes and eggs, the consumption of dairy products, and the consumption
of meet. As independent variable of interest, I will use the fact, whether the individual has an
additional income arising from the bridge employment, and the variables describing individual
characteristics, household characteristics, and regional differences will be included as control
variables. In the first model, I will employ the OLS methodology.
Secondly, I will use the difference in differences technique, which will serve as a robustness check
for the former. If the results of both models differ, the effect of retirement and additional income
mix in the former model. The DiD model on the other hand separates the effect of retirement
and keeps only the effect of additional income after retirement.
The effect of an increase in income after retirement can hardly be captured from the data.
Thus, I will inverse the model and rather test the effect of decrease in income after retirement
by comparing food consumption of healthy individuals who are both working and receiving
retirement pension in t1 and t2 (the control group) with healthy individuals who were previously
receiving both a salary and a retirement pension in t1 and now are receiving only a retirement
pension in t2 (the treatment group). Members of both treatment and control group are healthy
individuals thus members of the control group have only additional income, other characteristic
of the individuals in both groups are assumed to be similar. Appropriate tests will be carried
out.

Expected Contribution

The thesis can contribute to the knowledge about income-substitution effect analysis capturing
the change in food consumption. If income proves as important for healthy food consumption,
this finding could raise public awareness of income-related eating habits. As a result, programs
that aid not only seniors but also other generations in obtaining healthy and nutritious food
could be developed.

Outline

1. Introduction: introduction to the topic, motivation for the thesis, and overview of the
thesis structure
2. Literature review: an overview of to-date published studies and the gap for further research
3. Data: description of the data source (SHARE) and selected variables, data preparation,
descriptive statistics
4. Methodology: explanation of methods used
5. Results: tables with results, discussion
6. Conclusion: summary of the findings and their possible implication, limitations of the
thesis, and future research recommendations