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Age-friendly workplaces could lead to a healthier later life

Nov15
Female colleagues collaborating in the workplace

Longer careers and better health later in life could be on the cards for older Australians if workplaces were more age-friendly and promoted healthy lifestyles to their employees, a new study from Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra has found.

The study, run in collaboration with the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research and the Centre for Research on Ageing Health and Wellbeing (CRAHW) was conducted over the course of a year and used workforce transition data from a 10 year period (2001-2011) from the national HILDA survey of 1,700 people aged 45-64.

Results from the surveys allowed assessments on yearly changes in health, wellbeing and welfare dependency in relation with workforce transitions from paid work to unpaid work or early retirement, when compared to others who were staying in paid work.

Lead researcher from the Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing within the ANU Research School of Population Health Dr Cathy Gong says the study revealed that health was the ‘primary and crucial factor’ underlying both voluntary and involuntary exits from paid work at mature ages.