Working long hours may be related to obesity in older adults. No studies have focused on older workers and long work hours, although the risk of obesity is high among this population group. This study is the first attempt to investigate the relationship between obesity and the older workforce. Panel data from the Health and Retirement Study are examined using Cox regression techniques. We found that older workers who work more than 59 hr a week are more likely to gain weight than older workers who work less than 59 hr per week.

Healthy aging is critical for the elderly to be independent and enjoy at least a satisfactory quality of life. However, late-life bereavement threatens healthy aging, as it may lead to adverse health effects. Using data from the Health and Retirement Survey, this study investigates the relationship between weight—specifically, body mass index (BMI)—and the loss of a parent, sibling, or spouse at an older age. It is the first attempt to investigate this relationship among the elderly population in the United States and makes the following notable contributions to the literature: (a) use of a large longitudinal dataset, (b) estimation of the effects of a familial death on a person’s BMI, and (c) investigation of the consequences of the bereavement for older people. Our results suggest that losing a family member at an older age results in a decrease in BMI.

This study investigates the impact of the massive and unexpected influx of Syrian refugees on the job vacancy rates (JVRs) and job-finding rates (JFRs) in Turkey between 2009–2015 and 2009–2018. We employed the instrumental variable approach to address potential endogeneity issues. While we found no significant causal impact of the Syrian refugees on JVR, they decreased JFR between 2009 and 2018. A reduction in JFR indicates that the Beveridge Curve shifted inwards, thereby raising matching efficiency and facilitating an improvement in labour market conditions. Furthermore, our research indicated differences in coefficients and significance in JVR and JFR across occupations, as well as different effects in these areas between the short and long term. However, the results demonstrate that the rapid and unexpected influx of Syrian refugees alleviated JVR and JFR in most of the occupation groups.