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Diet after retirement: Does working after retirement matter?
Thesis title in Czech: | Stravování ve stáří: vliv pracovního zapojení |
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Thesis title in English: | Diet after retirement: Does working after retirement matter? |
Key words: | pracovní zapojení, odchod do důchodu, zdravá strava, chování, penzisté, Evropa, SHARE |
English key words: | working after retirement, retirement, healthy diet, consumption, retirees, Europe, SHARE |
Academic year of topic announcement: | 2020/2021 |
Thesis type: | diploma thesis |
Thesis language: | angličtina |
Department: | Institute of Economic Studies (23-IES) |
Supervisor: | PhDr. Mgr. Jana Votápková, Ph.D. |
Author: | hidden![]() |
Date of registration: | 30.06.2021 |
Date of assignment: | 30.06.2021 |
Date and time of defence: | 01.02.2023 09:00 |
Venue of defence: | Opletalova - Opletalova 26, O105, Opletalova - místn. č. 105 |
Date of electronic submission: | 03.01.2023 |
Date of proceeded defence: | 01.02.2023 |
Opponents: | doc. Paola Bertoli, M.A., M.Sc., D.Phil. |
References |
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 |
Preliminary scope of work in English |
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 |