Worklife Expectancy Research Articles

Population-based estimates of healthy working life expectancy in England at age 50 years: analysis of data from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Retirement ages are rising in many countries to offset the challenges of population ageing, but people's capacity to work for more years in their later working life (>50 years) is unclear. We aimed to estimate healthy working life expectancy in England. This analysis included adults aged 50 years and older from six waves (2002-13) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), with linked mortality data. Healthy working life expectancy was defined as the average number of years expected to be spent healthy (no limiting long-standing illness) and in paid work (employment or self-employment) from age 50 years. Healthy working life expectancy was estimated for England overall and stratified by sex, educational attainment, deprivation level, occupation type, and region by use of interpolated Markov chain multi-state modelling. There were 15 284 respondents (7025 men and 8259 women) with survey and mortality data for the study period. Healthy working life expectancy at age 50 years was on average 9·42 years (10·94 years [95% CI 10·65-11·23] for men and 8·25 years [7·92-8·58] for women) and life expectancy was 31·76 years (30·05 years for men and 33·49 years for women). The number of years expected to be spent unhealthy and in work from age 50 years was 1·84 years (95% CI 1·74-1·94) in England overall. Population subgroups with the longest healthy working life expectancy were the self-employed (11·76 years [95% CI 10·76-12·76]) or those with non-manual occupations (10·32 years [9·95-10·69]), those with a tertiary education (11·27 years [10·74-11·80]), those living in southern England (10·73 years [10·16-11·30] in the South East and 10·51 years [9·80-11·22] in the South West), and those living in the least deprived areas (10·53 years [10·06-10·99]). Healthy working life expectancy at age 50 years in England is below the remaining years to State Pension age. Older workers of lower socioeconomic status and in particular regions in England might benefit from proactive approaches to improve health, workplace environments, and job opportunities to improve their healthy working life expectancy. Continued monitoring of healthy working life expectancy would provide further examination of the success of such approaches and that of policies to extend working lives. Economic and Social Research Council.

785-P: Number of Years Lost within 30-Year Work Life Spans of People with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

Background and Aims: To our knowledge, no study has yet examined diabetes related work disability from a life course perspective. This study estimated the number of years people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes lost in a 30-year work life span compared to people without diabetes. Method: Individuals aged 18-65 years, diagnosed with type 1 (n=33,188) or type 2 diabetes (n=81,930) were identified from national registers from the entire Danish population and age and gender matched with controls without diabetes (n=663,656), for period 2000-2017. Work Life Expectancies (WLE) in years were estimated as time in employment from age 35 to 65. We used a life table approach with multi-state Cox proportional hazard modelling (95% Confidence Intervals: CI). Age was the underlying time-axis. Inverse probability weights accounted for differences between populations. Analyses were performed separately for sex, educational status, and types of diabetes in 5-year age intervals. Results: Individuals with type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes had significantly shorter WLE compared to people without diabetes in the 30-year span. Type 1 diabetes: WLE ranged from 8 years shorter among women with low education [-8.0; CI: -11/-5.0] to 4 years shorter [-4.4; CI: -6.6/-2.3] with high education; WLE in men ranged from -6.4 [CI:-8.7/-4.0] with low education to -3.0 [CI:-4.5/-1.5] with high education. Type 2 diabetes: WLE ranged from -6.5 [CI: -8.9/-4.0] in women with low education to -2.9 [CI:-4.5/-1.3] with high education. WLE in men ranged from -7.0 [CI: -9.4/-4.5] with low education to -3.7 [CI: -5.4/-2.0] with high education. Conclusion: The substantial number of years lost in 30-year work life span of people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes highlight needs to prevent individual and societal consequences of diabetes related disability. Preventive strategies are particularly relevant for people with low education. Disclosure M.A. Nexo: None. J. Pedersen: None. B. Cleal: None. I. Andersen: None. J.B. Bjorner: None.

High physical work demands and working life expectancy in Denmark

ObjectiveIn most European countries, political reforms gradually increase the statutory retirement age to counter the economic costs of a growing elderly population. However, working to a high age may be...

Extending Working Lives: A Systematic Review of Healthy Working Life Expectancy at Age 50

Retirement ages for receipt of state/social pensions are rising in many countries in response to population ageing and increasing life expectancy. However, sickness absence and early retirement for health reasons (especially among adults aged ≥ 50) present challenges to this. Estimates of the average number of years people are both healthy and in work from age 50 are needed to inform policy making and assess the feasibility of policy changes. A systematic review was carried out to identify existing population indicators, and estimates, of life expectancy in health and work. Nine databases were systematically searched on the 30th January 2019. Eligible papers were identified using inclusion/exclusion criteria. Evidence synthesis was undertaken to explore indicators and estimates. Four studies were included for review from 1485 identified by the search. A narrative review was carried out; quantitative pooling of the results was not feasible due to high heterogeneity between studies. All estimates of the average number of years spent in both health and work from age 50 were below 10 years with the exception of a population subgroup of Finnish male executives (11.91 years). The review indicated that population indicators of health and work that could estimate the average number of years people are healthy and in work are rarely used, and that there are no current and reliable estimates. One indicator, Healthy Working Life Expectancy (measuring life expectancy in health and work from age 50), offers the potential to be a suitable measure for monitoring life expectancy in health and work.

Late-Career Expectations: A Survey of Full-Time Faculty Members Who Are 55 or Older at 14 U.S. Medical Schools.

The average age of full-time faculty members at U.S. medical schools accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education was 49.5 in 2017, yet the academic medicine community knows little about late-career faculty. The authors sought to characterize full-time faculty members 55 or older and assess their work-life expectations. The authors conducted a survey (May-September 2017) of faculty 55+ at 14 U.S. medical schools. Of the 5,204 faculty members invited, 2,126 (40.8%) responded. The average age of respondents was 62.3, and among those responding to the relevant questions, most identified as male (1,425; 67.2%), white (1,841; 88.3%), and married/partnered (1,803; 85.5%). Fewer than half (915; 45.2%) indicated they had begun thinking about full-time retirement, estimating that they would do so at a mean age of 67.8 (standard deviation = 4.3). Half the respondents (1,004; 50.0%) would consider moving to part-time status. The top 3 personal factors likely to affect retirement decisions were health, postretirement plans, and spouse's/partner's plans. The top 3 professional factors were phased retirement or part-time options, changes in institutional leadership, and presence of a successor. Faculty indicated that they would, post retirement, be interested in ongoing work in teaching/education and research/scholarship and that they wanted health insurance, email, and part-time teaching opportunities. U.S. medical schools employ a rapidly aging workforce. These data indicate that neither faculty members nor institutions are prepared. Faculty affairs and develop ment leaders should champion efforts to engage with late-career faculty to prepare for this changing landscape.

Reassessment of burden of occupational fatal injuries in Italy, 1951-2017

occupational injuries in Italy are registered primarily by the Italian National Institute for insurance against accidents at work (Inail); its statistics show the number of events by consequence type (temporary, permanent, fatal). Data prior to 2001 include fatalities only if benefits were paid to survivors entitled to compensation, typically spouse and/or children. to estimate the number of fatal injuries occurred to workers without survivors entitled to compensation, not considered in INAIL statistics for the period 1951-2000; to evaluate years lived with disability (YLD) years of life lost (YLL), disability-adjusted life years (DALY) caused by all occupational injuries occurred in Italy, period 1951-2016. evaluation of the stability of the ratio among fatal accidents with and without survivors, along the period of observation (2001-2017); retrospective application of such ratio to data related to the period 1951-2000; linkage of individual injury data to Global Burden of Disease injury categories and calculation of corresponding YLLs, YLDs, DALYs; calculation of mean values by main type of consequences (temporary, permanent, fatal); application of above means to Italian data 1951-2017. occupational injuries compensated by Inail in Italy, 1951-2017. number of injuries, YLDs, YLLs, DALYs. fatal occupational injuries, not considered in official statistics for the period 1951-2000, are estimated to be 26,218 cases, corresponding to 1.4 millions of YLLs. In the same period, total occupational injuries (with temporary, permanent or fatal consequences) correspond to 11.5 millions of DALYs, fatal component corresponded to 5.1 millions of YLLs. Estimated total number of fatal occupational injuries in 1951-2000 is 28% higher than official Inail data. Considering YLLs, such increase rises up to 37%. Such difference reflects younger mean age and consequent longer life expectancy of workers without survivors. Considering DALYs, the increase is 14%. Throughout the period 1951-2017, a progressive reduction of the burden of injury is observed. At the same time a qualitative change is observed, with reduction from 55% to 30% of YLL/DALY ratio.

Cohort Trends in Working Life Expectancies at Age 50 in the United States: A Register-Based Study Using Social Security Administration Data.

ObjectivesLittle is known about the length of working life, even though it is a key indicator for policy-makers. In this paper, we study how the length of working life at age 50 has developed in the United States from a cohort perspective.MethodsWe use a large longitudinal sample of U.S. Social Security register data that covers close to 1.7 million individuals of the cohorts born from 1920 to 1965. For all of these cohorts, we study the employment trajectories and working life expectancy (WLE) at age 50 by gender and nativity (native-born/foreign-born). For the cohorts with employment trajectories that are only incompletely observed, we borrow information from older cohorts to predict their WLE.ResultsThe length of working life has been increasing for the native-born males and females, and the younger cohorts worked longer than the older cohorts. However, WLE might soon peak, and then stall. The gap in WLE between the native-born and the foreign-born has increased over time, although latter group might be able to catch up in the coming years.DiscussionOur findings show that studying employment from a cohort perspective reveals crucial information about patterns of working life. The future development of the length of working life should be a major concern for policy-makers.

Trends in self-rated health among the elderly population in Germany from 1995 to 2015 \u2013 the influence of temporal change in leisure time physical activity

BackgroundAgainst the backdrop of rising statutory retirement age in Germany, we analyzed time trends in self-rated health (SRH) among the elderly population between 50 and 70 years of age and explored the mediating role of leisure time physical activity (LTPA) on the relationship between time period and self-rated health (SRH).MethodsWe used longitudinal survey data (n = 23,161) from a national panel study (GSOEP) to analyze time trends in SRH and regular LTPA (at least once a week) by means of Generalized Estimation Equation (GEE) analysis for logistic regression. The Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method was applied for decomposing trend effects into direct and indirect parts via LTPA. In addition to odds ratios (OR), we illustrated the results by means of predicted probabilities and average partial effects (APE).ResultsOver time, the predicted probabilities of good SRH and regular LTPA increased while those of poor SRH decreased. After adjusting for socioeconomic status (SES) 53.4% of the trend in good SRH in women (OR = 1.34 / APE = 6.8%-points) could be attributed to the rise in regular LTPA. In men, the remaining smaller effect (OR = 1.13 / APE = 2.7%) could be fully assigned to temporal changes in regular LTPA. With respect to poor health we found a suppression effect of LTPA in the adjusted model, indicating that without improvements in regular LTPA over time an increase in poor SRH would have occurred.ConclusionsThe increase of regular LTPA accounted for improved SRH from 1995 to 2015 among the elderly, indicating that promoting LTPA might be a key factor to raise healthy working life expectancy.

Climate, Diseases, and the Origins of Corruption

It has been commonly observed that tropical countries tend to suffer from intense corruption and underdevelopment. This study provides an explanation for this long-standing disparity across the world based on variation in the intensity of ultraviolet radiation (UV-R). The central hypothesis is that UV-R is positively associated with the (historical) prevalence of eye diseases, which significantly shortens work-life expectancy as a skilled worker. This helps shape the worldwide distribution of corruption by affecting the incumbents’ window of opportunity. Using data for up to 139 countries, I consistently find empirical support for the positive relationship between UV-R and corruption. The main findings withstand accounting for numerous alternative explanations for international differences in corruption levels. Employing individual-level data from the World Values Survey, I document suggestive evidence that exposure to UV-R is linked to surveyed respondents’ tolerance towards corrupt activities. Furthermore, a subnational analysis for China lends credence to the cross-country evidence.

Impact of depressive symptoms on worklife expectancy: a longitudinal study on Danish employees

ObjectiveDepressive symptoms are associated with sickness absence, work disability and unemployment, but little is known about worklife expectancy (WLE). This study investigates the impact of depressive symptoms on the WLE...

The Markov Model of Labor Force Activity 2012-17: Extended Tables of Central Tendency, Shape, Percentile Points, and Bootstrap Standard Errors

Abstract This paper updates the Skoog-Ciecka-Krueger (2011) study which used 2005-09 U.S. population labor force data to estimate worklife expectancies. This update presents estimates using 2012-17 labor force data for persons ages 18 and over by sex and education. These updated estimates are presented as before as a set of worklife tables, including extended probability calculations and other statistical measures useful to forensic economists. Transition probabilities, by age, gender, and education, are contained in the electronic supplementary materials.

Educational differences in duration of working life and loss of paid employment: working life expectancy in The Netherlands

Objectives This study aims to provide insight into educational differences in duration of working life by working life expectancy (WLE) and working years lost (WYL) through disability benefits and other non-employment states in the Netherlands. Methods Monthly information on employment status of the Dutch population (N=4 999 947) between 16 and 66 years from 2001‒2015 was used to estimate working life courses and loss of working years for specific non-employment states. Across educational groups, bi-directional transitions between paid employment and non-employment states were calculated. Using a multistate model, the WLE and WYL at age 16, 30, 50 and up to 66 years as statutory retirement age were estimated for each educational group, stratified by gender. Results Low-educated men and women had a 7.3 (men) and 9.9 (women) years lower WLE at age 30 than high-educated men and women. Among low-educated men, 3.4 working years were lost due to disability benefit compared to 0.8 among high-educated men. Low-educated women lost 3.0 working years due to disability benefit compared to 1.4 among high-educated women. Conclusions There are large educational inequalities over the course of working life. Among low-educated workers, more working years are lost due to unemployment, no income, and especially disability benefits. The latter reflects large educational inequalities in health and working conditions. The metrics of WLE and WYL provide useful insights into the life-course perspective on working careers.

No direct contact needed for drones to shorten workers lifespan in honey bee

The honey bee, Apis mellifera, has been extensively used as a model in gerontological research, although the presence of adult males has been a factor so far neglected in investigations of the social regulation of worker aging. In the honey bee, drones (males) are produced and maintained only in the swarming season, or if a colony loses its queen. Here, we report on the longevity cost incurred by queenless workers that provide care for adult drones under conditions of food resources limited to hydrocarbons only. We found that the presence of drones reduced the life expectancy of workers, even if the workers were prevented from direct contact with the drones (double-mesh-type test). At the same time, the survival rate of the drones was surprisingly high. This suggests that our results reveal the existence of a mechanism that drones use to increase their fitness. We hypothesize that drones are able to communicate their presence to workers without direct contact. Alternatively, queenless workers might try to recruit other individuals to take care of males. In both cases, queenless workers, which are not able to reproduce themselves when deprived of protein, dramatically respond to the presence of drones.

Work participation and working life expectancy after a disabling shoulder lesion

ObjectiveTo examine the impact of a disabling non-traumatic shoulder lesion on work participation and working life expectancy.MethodsFrom a 70% random sample of the Finnish population, we selected 30–59-year-old wage earners...

Fatigue failure of an idle gear shaft of a gearbox

This paper reports the results of failure analysis of an idle gear shaft of a gearbox in a hot re-rolling steel mill in Thailand. The shaft failed prematurely after only about 6,000 hours of service which was very much lower than the expected working life of 40,000-50,000 hours. The results showed that the shaft failed by fatigue fracture. Beach marks on the fracture surface were clearly visible. Fatigue cracks were initiated at two corners of the keyway of the shaft. Relatively large final fracture area of the fracture surface indicated that the shaft was under a very high stress at the time of failure. The root cause of the fracture is poor design and poor machining of the keyway. Too small fillet radii at the bottom of the keyway gave rise to stress concentration resulting in excessive stresses at the keyway corners. These high stresses led to fatigue crack initiation at the keyway corners followed by crack growth, and final fracture.

Policing Corporate Conduct Toward Minority Communities: An Insurance Law Perspective on the Use of Race in Calculating Tort Damages

Courts commonly use U.S. Department of Labor actuarial tables, which explicitly take into account the race of the tort victim, to determine average national wage, work-life expectancy, and life expectancy. This practice has led to wide discrepancies between average damage awards for minority plaintiffs compared to white plaintiffs even if both plaintiffs are similarly situated. While recent legal scholarship criticizes the use of race-based tables and addresses the Equal Protection and incentive concerns such tables present, few courts have deviated from the explicit use of race in determining tort damages. Though the use of demographic features, such as race, to predict future lost earnings is viewed as a way to calculate more accurate damage awards, a closer look at the effects of race-based tables shows the practice does more harm than good. Specifically, this Note considers the intersection of corporate liability insurance and tort law and how race-based tables affect the deterrence and oversight objectives of the relationship. The first Part of this Note provides an overview of how insurance and tort law work together, as well as the recognized issues with the use of race-based tables. The second Part focuses on how race-based damage awards inhibit deterrence of corporate tortious misconduct by not allowing insurance providers to accurately price premiums. Further, race-based damage awards also prevent insurance providers from adequately policing corporations and mandating certain precautions, which leads to an increased likelihood of tortious harm. The final Part proposes that state legislatures rectify the negative consequences race-based tables create by outlawing the use of race-based tables and establishing a minimum damage award using blended actuarial tables.

Cambio demográfico y duración de la vida económicamente activa en la Región de Magallanes y la Antártica chilena 1992-2013

This article analyzes the implications of the demographic change in the region of Magellan and the Chilean Antarctic. It analyzes the dynamics of population aging and its impact on the labor force. In particular, it was observed the variation the working life’s length through the gross and net years of economic activity, the pattern of entrance and retirement and the working life expectancy. Methodologically, we elaborated Tables of Working Life for the years 1992, 2003 and 2013. We also used information of economic activity and inactivity for the region obtained from the National Socioeconomic Characterization Survey (CASEN in spanish) and published mortality tables by National Statistics Institut (INE, 2004).

Social inequality in working life expectancy in Sweden.

BackgroundIn Sweden there is a socioeconomic divide between white and blue collar workers with respect to the risk for premature exit from working life. Disability pension has long represented a major reason behind early exits.ObjectiveThe present investigation aimed at studying the effect on socioeconomic groups of new guidelines issued by the Swedish government in 2006, limiting the possibilities for applicants to be granted pension on medical grounds.Material and methodThe study was based on register data comprising the prevalence of disability pension and premature age pension in different occupations in the age group 55–64 years, comparing the years 2006 and 2011.ResultsIt was found that in 2011 under the new guidelines, newly approved disability pensions had dropped by 70%. Women were affected more than men. The drop in disability pensions affected applicants within the two most prevalent diagnosis groups, mental disorders (a drop by 58%) and musculoskeletal disorders (a drop by 87%). In the same time period, the percentage in the age range 55–64 years choosing premature age pension more than doubled. An increase in the number of premature age pensions was more common in blue collar occupational groups than in white collar workers. Occupation had a higher impact on working life expectancy than country of birth.ConclusionThere are strong indications that many applicants, particularly blue collar workers, who had been unable to be granted disability pension under the new operational guidelines, instead choose premature retirement, a costly alternative for many individuals with already low pension benefits. The results indicate a tendency of passing on the societal costs of early labor market exits to various economic compensation arrangements, as well as to the individuals themselves.

Educational differences in working life expectancy in the Netherlands

Educational differences in working life expectancy in the Netherlands

Educational differences in working life expectancy in the Netherlands

Educational differences in working life expectancy in the Netherlands