Evidence concerning the relationship between health and retirement

: Survey data concerning the incidence of serious illness before and after retirement are analysed in two ways, (i) by comparison of groups of retired men with groups of men in the last ten years of their working lives; (ii) by examining and comparing the trends over time before and after retirement. Whereas the first method would lead to a conclusion that there is no difference between retired and working men, the second method shows a distinct drop in the incidence of serious illness in the two years following retirement and a slower rate of increase thereafter. It is concluded that retirement is associated with a substantial lowering in the incidence of serious illness.