And here is the underlying research, forthcoming in the journal Labour Economics, authored with James Banks, Jonathan Cribb and Carl Emmerson
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Here is the @theifs.bsky.social comment:

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Our results mean that longer working has the potential to be positive for at least some health outcomes. The effects depend on the type of work and what people would be doing if they retire. Policymakers should therefore consider encouraging social interactions and physical exercise in retirement 7/

This evidence complements a number of studies in other settings that tends to show work is good for cognition but finds mixed results for other outcomes. Our study is also not the last word- there are other aspects of health and effects could change when looking over longer time horizons. 6/

However, the effects varied by the type of job. Jobs with some physical activity were good for preventing disability but sedentary jobs were actively harmful. We found that work caused women in non-sedentary jobs to do less exercise. 5/

On average, being in work prevented the onset of physical disability. Those in work performed better in a walking speed test and reported fewer difficulties with mobility. 4/

The benefits were larger for single women. This suggests that it’s those who live alone - who are more likely to see a drop of in social interactions upon retirement - who gained the most from work 3/

On average, staying in work in your 60s is good for cognitive functioning of women. This was measured by performance on tests including a word recall test. 2/

Read the full report here and come along to our event later!
9/9
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There’s a potential role for government to increase awareness of Sharia compliant options and reduce the hassle cost of switching to them. Also implications for thinking about increasing automatic enrolment default rates. 8/

Opting out of a pension means forgoing the benefits of an employer pension contribution and tax relief. We estimate that doing this over a whole working life could mean losing out on £16.5k or a 60% increase in retirement income for a typical Pakistani or Bangladeshi employee. That’s a lot! 7/

In the private sector, employees are typically enrolled into DC pension schemes where default asset allocations are not in line with these teachings. However, employees typically have the option to change to a Sharia-compliant fund. 6/

Higher opt-out rates for Pakistani and Bangladeshi employees exist in both the public and private sectors despite the fact that saving in public service pensions is generally understood to be consistent with Islamic teaching. 5/

Islamic teaching is typically seen as prohibiting receiving income from interest and investing in ‘unethical’ industries such as alcohol or tobacco. Muslims who report that their religion makes a greater difference to their life are particularly likely to opt out of workplace pensions. 4/

There is a wide range of evidence that religious beliefs and/or norms in Islam are important in driving higher opt-out rates, and 90% of Pakistani and Bangladeshi individuals are Muslims. 3/

The much higher opt-out rates for employees of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin cannot be explained by differences in earnings, age, education levels, or the characteristics of the job or of their employer 2/