Transitions in Employment and Disability Among People Ages 51 to 61

摘要

During the sixth decade of life, many people experience changes in their health and job status. Often, the prevalence of health problems and disabilities increases substantially while work activities either cease or become less important. Relatively little is known, however, about how frequently these transitions occur or the role that disability--defined as a health condition or impairment that limits ones activities--plays in decisions to retire or to work less. To address these issues, the National Institute on Aging initiated the Health and Retirement Survey (HRS) in which people 51 to 61 years of age in 1992 will be followed every two years for as long as a decade. The present report uses data from the HRS to analyze transitions in disability and employment from 1992 to 1994, the first two waves of the HRS survey. In this report, we estimate the incidence of disability from 1992 to 1994, and explore the effect that developing a disability has on maintaining employment. The analysis is set against the backdrop of an economic upturn.