The relationship between retirement, social isolation and loneliness: A longitudinal analysis using the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

TL;DR

This study examines how retirement affects loneliness and social isolation in older adults using data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Contribution

The study provides new evidence on the short-term and long-term effects of retirement on loneliness and social isolation.

Findings

Retirement had no effect on short-term loneliness.

Retirement reduced the odds of social isolation in newly retired individuals.

No long-term association was found between retirement and loneliness or social isolation.

Abstract

Retirement is a major transition in aging, with changes in routine, identity, finances, and social connections, and subsequently mental and physical health. It is possible that the transition through retirement period may increase the risk of loneliness and social isolation. However, the relationship between retirement and loneliness is unclear. We aimed to examine the association between retirement and loneliness and social isolation using a representative sample of older adults.

We used survey data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), a representative sample of adults over 50 years of age living in private households in England. We analysed waves 4–8 covering the years 2008 to 2017. Loneliness was measured using the UCLA 3-item scale. Social isolation was measured using information on social connections based on previous methods used in ELSA. Binary logistic regression models were used to analyse the effect of retirement on loneliness and social isolation.

From a total of 3,758 participants, 766 retired between wave 4 and wave 5. Retirement had no effect on short-term loneliness (adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 0.96, 95% CI: 0.77–1.21), but did reduce odds of social isolation (aOR: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.58–0.98) for newly retired individuals when compared to those still working. Further, no association was observed in long-term analysis for either loneliness or social isolation.

Our findings suggest there is no immediate or long-term association between retirement and loneliness, but there may be a reduction in social isolation in the short-term. Understanding the role retirement plays in the complex relationship between social connection, loneliness and isolation can be used to inform strategies and policies to improve wellbeing in older age.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12889-025-24472-8.