Retirement process in Japan : new evidence from Japanese Study on Aging and Retirement (JSTAR)

While the average retirement age is higher in Japan, the retirement process has not been in-depth explored from multiple factors including economic, health and family statuses. We examine the transition of work status and working hours for Japanese males and females using JSTAR (Japanese Study on Aging and Retirement) in 2007 and 2009. We provide some empirical patterns of retirement. First, those who are aged 60 or over and retired stay retired two years later, either male or female, while some portion of those who are aged in 50s come back to work. Second, the probability to retire in 2009 for those who were not retired in 2007 ranges 20-30%. Higher index workers in their 60s are less likely to retire but quickly retire if working hours are reduced. Third, higher index workers seem to keep working at the current working hours than lower index counterparts.