This study aimed to investigate the relationship between the unemployment experience and depressive symptoms among mid-aged (ages 45–59) and elderly (ages 60 or above) persons and to examine further the effects of unemployment insurance, industrial accident compensation insurance (IACI) and national pension on the stated relationship. Data were used from the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (KLoSA) between 2006 and 2012. A total of 1,536 individuals employed at the 2006 baseline were followed. The association between employment status change during 2006 to 2008, 2008 to 2010 or 2010 to 2012 and depressive symptoms in years 2008, 2010 or 2012 were analysed using a generalised estimating equation model. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D 10) scale. The results showed that the ‘employed to unemployed’ group had statistically significant increases in depression scores in the mid-aged (β = 0.4884, p = 0.0038) and elderly (β = 0.8275, p ⩽ 0.0001) categories, compared to the ‘employed to employed’ group. Findings were maintained in groups without a social safety net. Contrastingly, the ‘employed to unemployed’ groups with unemployment insurance and IACI did not show statistically significant increases in depression scores. The ‘employed to unemployed’ category of individuals enrolled in the national pension system exhibited a lower increase of depression. Therefore, an enhanced focus on the mental health of unemployed individuals is required, in addition to the provision of a reliable social safety net.

Baby boomers will comprise a considerable share of tomorrow's older population. Previous research has indicated higher travel activity and car use amongst baby boomers than amongst older cohorts. However, little evidence exists on the effects of boomers' ageing on the transportation system. To analyse how retirement affects baby boomers' travel and the related future travel demand, we compared three groups, distinguished by employment status as ‘still working’, ‘early retirees’ and ‘recent retirees’, in a longitudinal setting. Data for 864 individuals were collected via standardised telephone interviews in 2009 and 2012. We find a clear tendency towards reducing the car use and mileage over time and as a consequence of retirement. Nevertheless, car use for leisure purposes increased after retirement. Whilst retirement had a bigger impact on men's than on women's car use, those women who continued working had a high car reliance that did not decline over time. This study suggests that retirement is a transition point associated with decreasing car use. Hence, the ageing of the population is likely to have a decreasing effect on transportation demand. However, informal care-giving, prolonged careers and atypical working life, boomer women's changing professional roles, and the emergence of leisure and consumption as major cultural and social frameworks of the third age are likely to make this transition different than observed in previous cohorts.

Male ageing is in focus nowadays. The aim of this study was to investigate conceptions of the male menopause (also known as andropause) in the educational and professional literature of Finnish physicians from 1982 to 2002, and the main point of interest was how the presentation of the male menopause and its treatments have changed. Published items for analysis were retrieved from the two main Finnish medical journals and from introductory gynaecology and urology textbooks using keywords for male ageing and hormones. It was found that disagreements about the male menopause have been marked. Some authors described it as a consequence of the decline in gonad functioning that comes with increased age, and some argued that we are making a disease out of normal ageing, but its association with sexual problems has risen in prominence: libido and potency disorders have recently been identified as symptoms. The treatment provided for male menopause was androgens, about which opinions diverged, especially the effect of androgen therapy on cardiovascular diseases and osteoporosis. New forms of testosterone treatment have been eagerly adopted, but opinions varied on the appropriate duration of the therapies. By the 2000s, the male menopause was increasingly likened to the female menopause, with emphasis upon the similar symptoms. While gerontological thinking largely sees the male menopause as an aspect of ageing and a normal condition, the andrological approach regards it as a treatable disease and its rapid adoption can be seen as a reflection of both private and public concerns about increased longevity.

This paper presents a prototype development of a robot arm to assist walking of elderly people. For effective use in Japanese houses, a robot arm mounted on a rail was designed. Force sensors were used to provide an easy-to-use interface. Thresholds of forces were determined to detect the user's intention to walk as well as for safety considerations. Applying a step by step motion, the arm could follow the rhythmical walking of the subject. We examined an interface method using force sensors and concluded that it can detect the user's motion at the beginning of a walk.