According to a new study, people who retire rediscover the pleasure of better sleep.

Dr. Jussi Vahtera of the University of Turku in Finland and colleagues studied 14,714 people who had retired from the French national gas and electric company. They found that these retirees have improved their quality of sleep.

The research findings do not, however, apply to everyone.

A vital determiner is the role of a generous retirement pension. Only people who receive excellent retirement benefits were able to enjoy better sleep.

Vahtera explains, “In countries and positions where there is no proper pension level to guarantee financial security beyond working age, however, retirement may be followed by severe stress disturbing sleep even more than before retirement.”

The research team observed how retirement affected sleep by following workers for seven years before their respective retirements and then seven years more afterwards.

In conclusion, the researchers stated, “The possibility that the health and well-being of individuals are significantly worse when in employment than following retirement presents a great challenge to improve the quality of work life in Western societies in which the cost of the aging population can only be met through an increase in average retirement age.”

(via Reuters Health)