title: Japan's silver human resource centers and participant well-being.
abstract: Japan's Silver Human Resource Center (SHRC) program provides part-time, paid employment to retirement-aged men and women. We studied 393 new program participants and examined whether part-time work influenced their well-being or "ikigai." The participants were divided into those who had worked in SHRC-provided jobs in the preceding year, and those who had not. Gender-stratified regression models were fitted to determine whether SHRC employment was associated with increased well-being. For men, actively working at a SHRC job was associated with greater well-being, compared to inactive members. And men with SHRC jobs and previous volunteering experience had the greatest increase in well-being. Women SHRC job holders did not experience increased well-being at the year's end. The study concludes that there is justification for exploring the usefulness of a similar program for American retirees who desire post-retirement part-time work.
authors.affiliation: University of Massachusetts Boston, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Bass
authors.forename: Harley K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Heimovitz
authors.forename: Masato
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oka
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004651:Employment / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012179:Retirement; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014838:Volunteers