Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42751680›Full record

ArticleJournal of labor economics2026

Why Life Gets Better after Age 50, for Some: Mental Well-Being and the Social Norm of Work.

Coen van de Kraats, Titus Galama, Maarten Lindeboom, Zichen Deng

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of labor economics, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Coen van de KraatsErasmus University Rotterdam and Tinbergen Institute.
Titus GalamaUniversity of Southern California, Center for Economic and Social Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and Tinbergen Institute.
Maarten LindeboomVrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Monash University, Tinbergen Institute, and IZA.
Zichen DengUniversity of Amsterdam, NHH, and FAIR Centre.

Funding

Enhancing engagement and participation of marginalized community residents in the UASU01AG077280 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI Arie Kapteyn · 2023 to 2026
$50.9M
Integrting Information About Aging SurveysR01AG030153 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI Sara Adar, Alden L. Gross · 2007 to 2026
$41.7M
Genotyping the Understanding America Study to generate novel opportunities for research on cognitive functioning and dementiaR01AG079554 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI FAUL, JESSICA, GALAMA, TITUS JOHANNES · 2023 to 2025
$7.6M
Identifying modifiable aspects of gene-by-environment interplay in later-life cognitive declineRF1AG055654 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI FAUL, JESSICA, GALAMA, TITUS JOHANNES · 2017 to 2018
$4.3M
Genetic Differences in the Causal Effect of Education Quantity and Quality on Cognitive Functioning and Dementia Diagnosis Later in LifeR01AG078522 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI Silvia Helena Barcellos · 2022 to 2026
$3.9M
From understanding to reducing health disparities: a model-based evaluationR01AG037398 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI GALAMA, TITUS JOHANNES · 2010 to 2014
$2.2M
Enhancing the Comparability of SHARE with HRS and ELSAR01AG052527 · NIA · MAX PLANCK INST/SOCIAL LAW/SOCIAL POLICY · PI BOERSCH-SUPAN, AXEL H · 2016 to 2020
$2.1M
Mega Meta Data Set of the Health and Retirement Surveys Around the WorldRC2AG036619 · NIA · RAND CORPORATION · PI KAPTEYN, ARIE · 2009 to 2010
$2.0M
Identifying gene-by-environment interplay in health behaviorR56AG058726 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI GALAMA, TITUS JOHANNES · 2020 to 2020
$842k
Human capital, health and longevity: explaining the health gradientK02AG042452 · NIA · UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA · PI GALAMA, TITUS JOHANNES · 2012 to 2016
$776k
Archiving & Creating User Friendly Data: the Longitudinal Aging Survey in IndiaR03AG043052 · NIA · RAND CORPORATION · PI LEE, JINKOOK · 2012 to 2012
$95k
NIA NIH HHS HHSN271201300071CNIA NIH HHS K02 AG042452NIA NIH HHS R01 AG030153NIA NIH HHS R01 AG037398NIA NIH HHS R01 AG052527NIA NIH HHS R01 AG078522NIA NIH HHS R01 AG079554NIA NIH HHS R03 AG043052NIA NIH HHS R56 AG058726NIA NIH HHS RC2 AG036619NIA NIH HHS RF1 AG055654NIA NIH HHS U01 AG077280
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We provide evidence that the social norm (expectation) that adults work has a substantial detrimental causal effect on the mental well-being of unemployed men in mid-life, as substantial as, e.g., the detriment of being widowed. As their peers in age retire and the social norm weakens, the mental well-being of the unemployed improves. Using data on individuals aged 50+ from 10 European countries, we identify the social norm of work effect using exogenous variation in the earliest eligibility age for old-age public pensions across countries and birth cohorts.

Identifiers

PMID42751680
PMCPMC13580715

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.