A change in economic activity status is common in older adults. The move from employment to retirement can have both a positive and negative impact on health, social activity and financial circumstances. Figure 2.8 illustrates the pathways through which economic activity status might directly and indirectly affect drinking.
The relationship between economic activity status and health is complex (Moen 1996). A move out of paid work may occur due to deteriorating health that prohibits employment (Banks et al. 2006; Disney et al. 2006): 28.8% of men and 24.7% of women in Britain cited their ill health as the main reason for retiring (Banks 2006). Where individuals retire for reasons other than health, the decline in physical activity and social interaction may lead to physical and functional limitation and depression (Dave et al. 2008). Changes in social activity and the increase in time available for leisure pursuits following retirement may affect alcohol consumption both positively and negatively (Touvier et al. 2010; Chaix et al. 2007; Ekerdt et al.
1989). If alcohol-related social activities or networks are centred on employment then retirement may lead to reduced drinking, for example, if drinking in the pub after work was a common social activity. Alternatively, increased leisure time may increase opportunities to drink, increasing alcohol consumption (Zins et al. 2011; Ekerdt et al. 1989). Alcohol consumption may also be affected by loss of role or work identity following retirement (Kuerbis & Sacco 2012), with drinking used as a coping mechanism. Such feelings of loss may be experienced both by retirees who transitioned to retirement involuntarily and those who chose to retire (Bacharach et al. 2008). Finally, transition to retirement may impact on financial circumstances (Chaix et al. 2007; Bardasi et al. 2002), with the potential for lower income to impact upon the affordability of alcohol (Peirce et al. 1994).
Research on change in economic activity status has reported mixed findings. Individuals who became employed were more likely to remain drinkers between the ages of 53 and 64 years than become non-drinkers, although transitioning to unemployment predicted a greater
Figure 2.8: Interactions between change in economic activity status and drinking
Change in Social Activity Alcohol Consumption at
Time 2
Alcohol Consumption at Time 2
Change in Financial Circumstances
Change in Economic Activity Status Influence
on Health
Loss of identity
& sense of purpose
total number of drinks per month compared with stable employment over time (Molander et al. 2010). Older adults suffering involuntary job loss were twice as likely to start drinking compared with those still in employment, but no difference was found in quantity consumed between employed and unemployed drinkers (Gallo et al. (2001). Retirement was associated with increasing consumption over six years among US adults but over a longer follow-up period of 14-years this association diminished (Perreira & Sloan 2001; Platt et al. 2010). This finding concurs with research that examined drinking behaviour in the five years before and after retirement in a French sample, where the prevalence of heavy drinking increased immediately after retirement for men and women in managerial and clerical roles, but decreased over the first four years of retirement in men and non-managerial women (Zins et al. 2011). A weak relationship was found between retirement and a reduction in drinking problems in Dutch older men (Neve et al. 2000). Elsewhere no relationship was found between retirement and mean change in alcohol consumption, although retirees were more likely to occupy the extremes of abstinence or heavier drinking (Brennan et al. 2010b; Bacharach et al.
2004; Ekerdt et al. 1989).
Interviews in England highlighted the diversity of alcohol consumption patterns upon retirement including increased consumption at the pub, increased consumption at home, and stable consumption (Ward et al. 2008). There was a view that the pub is an important place of social contact following retirement and going to the pub was viewed as an activity that had been regular during working life that would continue upon retirement (Ward et al. 2008).
These mixed findings are supported by a recent review of 13 studies investigating the relationship between retirement and alcohol use that found retirement may not have a strong direct influence on alcohol consumption behaviour (Kuerbis & Sacco 2012). However, factors such as the process of retirement (voluntary versus involuntary) and individual characteristics may affect alcohol consumption behaviour in older adults around the time of their transition out of the labour force (Kuerbis & Sacco 2012).
Change in financial circumstances
Changes in finances circumstances such as a change in income or experiencing financial problems can affect alcohol consumption. The potential pathways of change are illustrated in Figure 2.9. A change in income may have a direct effect on consumption if a reduction in money renders alcohol unaffordable at the current level of drinking. Indirectly, financial circumstances could affect drinking through social activity. Money can facilitate social activities and participation in society for older adults so a lower income may influence involvement in alcohol related activities (Gabriel & Bowling 2004). A change in financial situation could also
affect alcohol consumption through health; for example a sudden decrease in income may lead to depression, with a subsequent impact on drinking.
Whilst research has explored the impact of low income at baseline on long-term alcohol consumption patterns (e.g. Brennan et al. 2010a; Molander et al. 2010), few studies have examined the impact of a change in income. In the USA a relationship was found between financial stressors and a decline in quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption over time in older men, and frequency in older women (Brennan et al. 1999). Additionally, individuals with
a longer financial planning horizon were more likely to have stable consumption, with a longer financial planning horizon indicating fewer current financial problems, perhaps as the individual considered saving and planning for future spending to be important (Platt et al.
2010). Qualitative research found upwards and downwards influences of financial factors on older adults drinking. One view was that alcohol had become cheaper making it more affordable. Another was that being on a pension limited the amount of alcohol you could afford to purchase (Ward et al. 2008). Among heavy drinkers the affordability of alcohol was considered a significant barrier to reducing consumption.