Rapid population ageing has led many countries to extend statutory retirement ages, yet the mental health implications of post-retirement employment remain inconclusive, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This study examines the association between working beyond statutory retirement age and depressive symptoms among older persons in Vietnam, a rapidly ageing middle-income country undergoing retirement-age reform. Using nationally representative data from the 2019 Vietnam National Aging Survey (N = 3,312) and propensity score matching to improve balance in observed characteristics, we compare economically active older persons with observationally similar non-working counterparts. Results show that post-retirement employment was significantly associated with lower depressive symptom scores. Associations were stronger among men and rural residents, while estimates were similar across educational groups. These findings suggest that continued labor force participation is linked to better mental health in later life, although estimates should be interpreted as associations rather than causal effects.
AustinP. C. (2011). An introduction to propensity score methods for reducing the effects of confounding in observational studies. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 46(3), 399–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/00273171.2011.568786
2.
BaxterS.BlankL.CantrellA.GoyderE. (2021). Is working in later life good for your health? A systematic review of health outcomes resulting from extended working lives. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1356. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11423-2
3.
BedasoT. S.HanB. (2021). Work after retirement affects elderly mental health and behaviors in addis ababa. Health Psychology Open, 8(1), 2055102921996189. https://doi.org/10.1177/2055102921996189
4.
CaliendoM.KopeinigS. (2008). Some practical guidance for the implementation of propensity score matching. Journal of Economic Surveys, 22(1), 31–72. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6419.2007.00527.x
5.
CarthyV. J. C. M.CronlyJ.PerryI. J. (2017). Job characteristics and mental health for older workers. Occupational Medicine, 67(5), 394–400. https://doi.org/10.1093/occmed/kqx066
6.
CastelP.PickA. (2018). Increasing social insurance coverage in viet Nam’s SMEs. OECD Development Policy Papers, 13(3), ec14725e. https://doi.org/10.1787/ec14725e-en
7.
ChengY.LanJ.CiQ. (2023). Employment and mental health of the Chinese elderly: Evidence from CHARLS 2018. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 20(4), 2791. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20042791
8.
ForbesM. K.SpenceK. M.WuthrichV. M.RapeeR. M. (2015). Mental health and wellbeing of older workers in Australia. Work, Aging and Retirement, 1(2), 202–213. https://doi.org/10.1093/workar/wav004
9.
GiangL. T.KikkawaA.ParkD.NguyenT. D. (2024). Employment among older men and women in Vietnam: How their health played a role?Working with Older People, 28(3), 233–246. https://doi.org/10.1108/WWOP-06-2023-0025
10.
GiangN. H.VinhN.PhuongH. T.ThangN. T.OanhT. T. M. (2022). Household financial burden associated with healthcare for older people in Viet Nam: A cross-sectional survey. Health Research Policy and Systems, 20(S1), 112. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12961-022-00913-3
11.
GiangT. L.LeD. D. (2018). Working beyond the traditional retirement ages: How does chronic health condition influence older workers in Vietnam?Ageing International, 43(2), 158–173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12126-017-9301-y
12.
GiangT. L.LeT. L. (2015). Determinants of labor force participation of older people in Vietnam. Journal of Economics and Development, 17(2), 28–52. https://doi.org/10.33301/2015.17.02.02
13.
GiangT. L.NguyenT. H. D. (2016). Determinants of work decisions among older people in rural Vietnam. Journal of Population Ageing, 9(4), 289–303. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12062-016-9143-5
14.
GiangT. L.NguyenV. C. (2017). The aging population and sustainability of the pension scheme: Simulations of policy options for Vietnam. Journal of Economics and Development, 19(3), 40–51. https://doi.org/10.33301/JED.2017.19.03.03
15.
HeL.ZhaoJ.LiM.SongZ.MaY.YangZ. (2024). Work till old age: An analysis of self-employment’s impact on depression among the older adults in China. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 15, 1426336. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1426336
16.
HenningG.LindwallM.JohanssonB. (2016). Continuity in well-being in the transition to retirement. GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 29(4), 225–237. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/a000155
17.
KimJ. E.MoenP. (2002). Retirement transitions, gender, and psychological well-being: A life-course, ecological model. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57(3), P212–P222. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/57.3.P212
18.
KimY.JangS.ChoS. (2023). Working hours, social engagement, and depressive symptoms: An extended work-life balance for older adults. BMC Public Health, 23(1), 2442. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17072-x
LeD. D.DangT. N. H.GiangL. T. (2024). The effects of spousal caregiving on middle-age and older caregivers’ health and well-being: Evidence from Vietnam. Research on Aging, 47(1), 47–65. https://doi.org/10.1177/01640275241263622
21.
LeD. D.GiangL. T. (2025). Causal effects of elder abuse on depression: A longitudinal analysis in Vietnam. Journal of Elder Abuse & Neglect, 37(4), 293–311. https://doi.org/10.1080/08946566.2025.2516681
22.
LeD. D.Leon-GonzalezR.GiangL. T. (2020). Decomposing gender inequality in functional disability among older people in Vietnam. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 87, 103989. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2019.103989
23.
LeD. D.Leon-GonzalezR.GiangT. L.NguyenA. T. (2020). Socio-economic-related health inequality in non-communicable diseases among older people in Viet Nam. Ageing and Society, 41(6), 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X19001843
24.
LeuvenE.SianesiB. (2018). PSMATCH2: Stata module to perform full mahalanobis and propensity score matching, common support graphing, and covariate imbalance testing. Statistical Software Components. https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:boc:bocode:s432001
25.
LewinA. C.StierH. (2025). Life satisfaction and emotional well-being among older adults: Does working after retirement age matter?Journal of Happiness Studies, 26(6), 105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-025-00942-z
26.
MizuochiM. (2024). The health consequences of returning to work after retirement: Evidence from a Japanese longitudinal survey. Economics and Human Biology, 50, 101330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ehb.2023.101330
27.
NguyenN. T.NguyenT.BuiT. D.GiangL. T. (2024). Depression and associated factors among older people in Vietnam: Findings from a national aging survey. PLoS One, 19(5), e0299791. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0299791
28.
NguyenT. V.NguyenK. T.NguyenP. M.NguyenN. M.LyC. L.NguyenT.NguyenM. T. T.LeH. M.NguyenX. T. K.DuongN. H. P.VeithR. C.NguyenT. V. (2021). Vietnamese version of the geriatric depression scale (30 items): Translation, cross-cultural adaptation, and validation. Geriatrics, 6(4), 116. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics6040116
29.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2024). Megatrends and the future of social protection. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/6c9202e8-en
30.
ParkY.ParkH.LeeJ.YunB.YoonJ.-H. (2025). Association between working after retirement age and lower depressive symptoms among Korean older adults. Journal of Affective Disorders, 390, 119874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2025.119874
31.
PatelR. P. (2018). A study of impact of post-retirement work on psychological well-being of elderly. International Journal of Mental Health, 5(1), 63–67. https://doi.org/10.30877/IJMH.5.1.2018.63-67
32.
RaihanM. M. H.ChowdhuryN.ChowdhuryM. Z. I.TurinT. C. (2023). Involuntary delayed retirement and mental health of older adults. Aging & Mental Health, 28(1), 169–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/13607863.2023.2230927
33.
RosenbaumP. R.RubinD. B. (1983). The central role of the propensity score in observational studies for causal effects. Biometrika, 70(1), 41–55. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/70.1.41
34.
RubinD. B. (2001). Using propensity scores to help design ob servational studies: Application to the tobacco litigation. Health Services & Outcomes Research Methodology, 2(3/4), 169–188. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020363010465
35.
SieberS. D. (1974). Toward a theory of role accumulation. American Sociological Review, 39(4), 567–578. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094422
36.
SunL.DengG.LuX.XieX.KangL.SunT.DaiX. (2024). The association between continuing work after retirement and the incidence of frailty: Evidence from the China health and retirement longitudinal study. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 28(12), 100398. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnha.2024.100398
37.
SunZ.WangY.ChenX.QianD. (2025). Association of workforce participation with depression among US older adults: Results from NHANES 2005–2018. BMC Geriatrics, 25(1), 77. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-025-05712-3
38.
TakaseM.SugiuraK.NakamotoI.WatanabeS.MurayamaH. (2024). The association between employment and cognitive function in older adults: A systematic review. Geriatrics and Gerontology International, 24(12), 1283–1291. https://doi.org/10.1111/ggi.15017
39.
TelesS.RibeiroO. (2019). Activity theory. In GuD.DupreM. (Eds.), Encyclopedia of gerontology and population aging. Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69892-2_748-1
TranT. M. T. (2024). Involvement of Vietnamese elders in economic activities in the lens of family ties, low institutional coverage, and gender identity. International Journal of Asian Studies, 21(2), 284–303. https://doi.org/10.1017/S147959142300058X
42.
TranV. K.EstermanA.SaitoY.BrodatyH.VuN. C.RougheadE.DangT. H.MinasH.DangL. T.NguyenT. A. (2022). Factors associated with high rates of depressive symptomatology in older people in Vietnam. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 30(8), 892–902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2022.02.007
43.
VanceD. E.BailJ.EnahC.PalmerJ.HoenigA. (2016). The impact of employment on cognition and cognitive reverse: mplications across diseases and aging.Nursing: Research and Reviews, 6, 61–71. https://doi.org/10.2147/NRR.S115625
44.
WahrendorfM.BlaneD.BartleyM.DraganoN.SiegristJ. (2013). Working conditions in mid-life and mental health in older ages. Advances in Life Course Research, 18(1), 16–25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.alcr.2012.10.004
45.
WangH.GeQ. (2025). Empirical analysis of the impact of employment on the elderly mental health in China. Psychology Research and Behavior Management, 18, 1227–1240. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S521892
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
