Decline in Consumption Expenditures after Retirement Using Japanese Micro Data (JSTAR)

         
Author Name KUREISHI Wataru  (National Institute of Population and Social Security Research) /YIN Ting  (Fellow, RIETI)
Creation Date/NO. January 2015 15-J-001
Research Project A Socioeconomic Analysis of Households in Environments Characterized by Aging Population and Low Birth Rates
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Abstract

This paper investigates whether or not (i) the decline in consumption after retirement is only from "work related expenses" and "food consumption," and (ii) even though food spending at home and that outside the home decline after retirement, actual food intake remains constant, as Hurst (2008) pointed out, using Japanese micro data. The data we use in our analysis are from the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR), a panel survey of elderly people aged 50 or older conducted by the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry, Hitotsubashi University, and the University of Tokyo.

Our estimation results show that the retirement of the household head decreases expenditure for food outside the home by about 17%, while there is no impact on expenditures for food at home and living expenses. Furthermore, we find that the retirement increases the time spent during weekdays on housework, shopping for necessities, and caring for children and grandchildren by about 25%.