Later pensions, lower social capital?

Abstract

Increases in working at older ages, linked to later ages at which public pensions are paid, have been shown to adversely affect individuals' physical and mental health and to reduce overall wellbeing. This study shows that later retirement also reduces social capital, affecting volunteering and caring activities. More specifically, using high quality micro-level panel data, we analyse the effects of the UK policy reforms that increased women's pension age from 60- 66 between 2010-2020 on rates of volunteering, caring and group membership. Our results demonstrate that when public pensions could only be taken later, volunteering and care-giving activities decreased.