Association between retirement status, savings and geriatric depression in China

Abstract

Against the background of an aging population and a mandatory retirement policy at relatively young ages in China, mental health problems of the retired elderly have attracted more and more attention. Yet, only a few studies have looked at the association between retirement status, savings and geriatric depression in China. Using data from the CHARLS (China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study) 2015 Wave, this thesis aims to find the association between retirement status, savings and geriatric depression of those aged 45 and above, controlling for other factors such as socioeconomic status, risky health behavior, physical health status, debt, and health insurance. Logistic and OLS regression models were estimated. This thesis contributes to the literature by taking into account whether retired people are still working or not, investigating the relationship between savings and depression, and examining possible interaction effects between retirement status and savings.

The results show that there is no significant relationship between retirement and depression. Working after retirement, similarly, does not have relationship with depression. However, recently retired employees who did not work after retirement are less likely to suffer from depression. Savings are found to have a significant association with geriatric depression. The elderly with higher savings has a lower probability of suffering from depression. Control variables like gender, education, marital status, social participation, living arrangement, chronic disease and debt have a significant relationship with depression.

In line with the active aging framework, these findings show that policies and programmes should not only promote physical health, but also savings (security), living arrangement and social participation.