Trends in health and ability to work among the older working-age population
E.M. Crimmins
Bok Engelsk 1999
| Utgitt | 1999
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| Omfang | Side S31- S40
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| Opplysninger | Objectives. Because of recent changes in Social Security regulationsthat will soon begin to raise the age of eligibility for fullretirement benefits, it is important to determine whether health andability to work at older ages have improved in recent years.Methods. Individual-level data from the National Hearth InterviewSurvey from 1982 through 1993 are used in this analysis. Trends inself-reported ability to work, presence of disease, and causes ofactual work limitation ate examined.Results. Men and women in their 60s, that is those in the olderworking ages and younger retirement ages, report significantimprovement in their ability to work. The change in work ability islarge enough so the percentage unable to work at age 67 in 1993 islower than the percentage unable to work at age 65 in 1982. Thisimprovement appears to have been similar for racial and ethnic groupsand across educational subgroups of the population, although AfricanAmericans and those with lower educational attainment are lesshealthy to begin with. The improvement in health is due to thechanging educational composition of the population, which is linkedto better life-long health, different occupational circumstances, andbetter health behaviors. In addition, the improvement in work abilityis explained by decline in the prevalence of cerebro/cardiovasculardiseases and arthritis.Discussion. The level of observed improvement in work ability meansthat the legislated rise in age of full eligibility for SocialSecurity benefits should be more than compensated for by the improvedability to work.
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