Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108WORK & RETIREMEN T 54 do people who are working. One might ask whether retirement makes people lonely and unhappy, or if people who were lonely and unhappy to begin with are more apt to retire. A study of retired male HRS participants in the mid-1990s who had not been working for at least a year showed that the latter was the case. That is, unhappy and lonely individuals were more likely than others to retire. After controlling for this predisposing condition, it turns out that retirement actually tends to make people happier and less lonely (University of Michigan 2002). Another researcher used 2000 HRS data to gauge people’s overall retirement satisfaction (Panis 2003). When retirees were asked how satisfying their retirement has turned out to be, a majority (61 percent) said “very satisfying” (Figure 2-11). One-third of respondents reported moderate sat- isfaction, and only 7 percent indicated that their retirement was not at all satisfying. Helping Others Volunteer work is another important dimension of work. The HRS asks about the amount of time that respondents spend volunteering for charitable organizations. In 1998, people were asked how much time they had volunteered during the pre- ceding 24 months. People ages 60 to 69 at the FIG. 2-12 volunteer work for charitable organizations, by age: 1996-1998 Note: Average hours volunteered refers to the average among respondents who volunteered some amount of time during the reference period. Source: HRS 1998. Hours Percent Bars: Average Hours Volunteered Line: Percent Volunteering 51-59 60-69 70-79 80+ 100 110 120 130 140 150 0 10 20 30 40 FIG. 2-11 level of satisfaction with retirement: 2000 Source: HRS 2000. Very Satisfied Moderately Satisfied Not At All Satisfied 61% 32% 7% time were most likely to have engaged in volunteer service, with one in three people in that age group having done so. The proportion of respondents who volunteer declines as people reach advanced age (Figure 2-12). However, among those who do volunteer, the average number of hours increases with age. Other research using HRS data has shown that volunteer work is associated with maintaining good health (Luoh and Herzog 2002).