Live long – work long: social well-being of working pensioners

Abstract

Based on the data from the "Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey - Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE)", a dynamic analysis of indicators characterising the social well-being of working pensioners has been conducted for the years 1994 to 2022. The current trend in the dynamics of these indicators is characterised as weakly positive but with a potential for decline. It is shown that the current level of social well-being among working pensioners, which includes increased self-confidence and readiness to overcome life difficulties, contributes to maintaining the stability of their adaptive potential. Throughout the various stages of the transformational period, working pensioners who exhibited greater autonomy and had developed social capital consistently reported higher levels of social well-being compared not only to non-working pensioners but also to pre-pensioners who experienced growing anxiety due to the inevitable changes in social status and lifestyle upon retirement. The study did not find significant differences in the level of social well-being between working pensioners who retired after the increase in the retirement age and those who retired just before the pension reform. Substantial differentiation in the level of social well-being among representatives of the analysed category of pensioners, who are now found in almost all sectors and spheres of activity, is largely the result of their heterogeneous socio-economic status. Despite old age being a factor that increases social risks and vulnerability, working pensioners often overcome difficulties encountered during crises with fewer adaptation difficulties and costs than younger individuals. Key elements of social well-being that continue to play a consistently significant role in strengthening the adaptive potential of working pensioners include the fulfilment of the need for public recognition and social interaction, as well as self-assessment of health status. In the current socio-economic and demographic conditions, various aspects of the social adaptation of the older generation become particularly important, directly linked to the realisation of their resource potential and increased activity in the field of employment.