Retirement Outcomes in the Health and Retirement Study

This study examines retirement outcomes in the first four waves of the 1992-1998 Health and Retirement Study. Measured retirement differs with the definition of retirement used and among various groups analyzed. Twenty-two percent of the sample report they were partially retired at some time in the first four waves. By age 65, over a fifth of the population is partially retired. Altogether, 17 percent of the sample experienced a reversal in the course of the survey, moving from a state of less work to a state of more work. The large spike in the population of men leaving non-retirement at age 65 observed in the 1969-1979 Retirement History Survey is reduced from 18 percentage point to 11 percentage points in the Health and Retirement Study, while the share leaving non-retirement at 62 has increased from 13 percentage points to 20 percentage points over time