A systematic review of retirement as a risk factor for mortality

Aging, health, and retirement are closely related in modern industrialized societies such as the United States. Starting in the 1800s and continuing through the early 1900s, old age pensions, fixed age retirement, and government sponsored pension plans were introduced by Germany, France and England, which meant that persons no longer had to work until they died or to rely on friends and family for support in their old age (Streib and Schneider 1971). The aging population in the US is dramatically increasing. The U.S. Census Bureau (2006) estimated that 78.2 million people in the baby boomer generation, those born between 1946 and 1964, were alive, a total that represented 30 % of the U.S. population. In 2006, the oldest of this generation turned 60 years old. The Census also estimates that persons age 65 and older will total about 13 % of the U.S. population by 2010, and 19 % by 2025 (Campbell 1996). These changes could overwhelm the public and private social security and health care insurance and delivery systems (Gebbie et al. 2005).