Using the data from the first wave of the Household Income and Labour Dynamics in
Australia (HILDA) Survey conducted in 2001, this study examines differences in selfperceived
health status among the employed and non-employed older adults. The results
confirm what has been found in other developed countries that people in paid employment,
including those in older age groups, have better health than those who are unemployed or
are no longer in the labour force. A preliminary descriptive analysis suggests that this
association between employment in later life and positive self-assessed health status may
have a more complex relationship to health risk behaviours such as smoking and physical
inactivity than may have been anticipated. Social relationships and self-rated economic
wellbeing are also found to play an important role in the complex relationship between
work in later life and health. Policy implications for healthy and successful ageing are
discussed.