Skip to main content
Book cover

International Handbook of Health Expectancies pp 249–261Cite as

Combining Working Life and Health Expectancies

Part of the International Handbooks of Population book series (IHOP,volume 9)

Abstract

People around the world are living longer while fertility has been declining in the great majority of countries. Increasing the length of working lives is a commonly sought remedy to deal, at least in part, with the financial consequences for the public welfare system of longer lives. A crucial question is whether people are physically and mentally capable of working until continuously higher ages, i.e. whether the planned or already implemented increases in official retirement ages will be faced by persons of good health. Hence, it is important to not only look at the development of working lives and focus on lengthening them but, at the same time, to take a close look at developments of the health status of people around retirement ages.

An existing indicator that can be used to monitor developments of working life for people at any age is working life expectancy (WLE). The calculation and analysis of WLE has relevance in itself, but it is the combination of WLE with analyses of health indicators that are gaining prominence, particularly in the context of aging societies. Simultaneous consideration of both dimensions – economic activity and health – is useful for a range of reasons. It allows the detection of inequalities in the development of both indicators, for example for different subgroups of the population; it indicates where the limits of increasing WLE might lie, given current levels of population health; and, particularly, the analysis of trends in both indicators can point to possible issues in extending WLE further.

Keywords

  • Working life expectancy
  • Health
  • Population aging

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-37668-0_18
  • Chapter length: 13 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   139.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-030-37668-0
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Hardcover Book
USD   179.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions
Fig. 18.1
Fig. 18.2
Fig. 18.3
Fig. 18.4
Fig. 18.5

References

  • Alter, G. C., & Becker, W. E. (1985). Estimating lost future earnings using the new worklife tables. Monthly Labor Review, 108, 39–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boekelheide, K., Blumberg, B., Chapin, R. E., et al. (2012). Predicting later-life outcomes of early-life exposures. Environmental Health Perspectives, 120, 1353–1361.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Bohannon, R. W., Peolsson, A., Massy-Westropp, N., et al. (2006). Reference values for adult grip strength measured with a Jamar dynamometer: a descriptive meta-analysis. Physiotherapy, 92, 11–15.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Cambois, E., Laborde, C., Romieu, I., et al. (2011). Occupational inequalities in health expectancies in France in the early 2000s: Unequal chances of reaching and living retirement in good health. Demographic Research, 25, 407–436. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2011.25.12.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • de Wind, A., van der Noordt, M., Deeg, D. J. H., et al. (2018). Working life expectancy in good and poor self-perceived health among Dutch workers aged 55–65 years with a chronic disease over the period 1992–2016. Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 75, 792–797. https://doi.org/10.1136/oemed-2018-105243.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, M., & Prince, M. J. (2005). Mental Health. In A. Börsch-Supan, A. Brugiavini, Jürges, H. et al. (Eds.), Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe - First Results from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. Mannheim: Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dhillon, P., & Ladusingh, L. (2013). Working life gain from gain in old age life expectancy in India. Demographic Research, 28, 733–762. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2013.28.26.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Dodds, R. M., Syddall, H. E., Cooper, R., et al. (2014). Grip strength across the life course: normative data from twelve British studies. PLoS One, 9, e113637.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Durand, J. D. (1948). The labor force in the United States, 1890–1960. Social Science Research Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eggleston, K. N., & Fuchs, V. R. (2012). The new demographic transition: most gains in life expectancy now realized late in life. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 26, 137–156.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Fouweather, T., Gillies, C., Wohland, P., et al. (2015). Comparison of socio-economic indicators explaining inequalities in Healthy Life Years at age 50 in Europe: 2005 and 2010. The European Journal of Public Health, 25, 978–983.

    Google Scholar 

  • Germain, C. M., Batsis, J. A., Vasquez, E., et al. (2016). Muscle strength, physical activity, and functional limitations in older adults with central obesity. Journal of Aging Research, 2016(8387324), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1155/2016/8387324.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Gertler, P., Heckman, J., Pinto, R., et al. (2014). Labor market returns to an early childhood stimulation intervention in Jamaica. Science, 344, 998–1001.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hanly, P., Soerjomataram, I., & Sharp, L. (2015). Measuring the societal burden of cancer: The cost of lost productivity due to premature cancer-related mortality in Europe. International Journal of Cancer, 136, E136–E145.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey, S. B., Henderson, M., Lelliott, P., et al. (2009). Mental health and employment: much work still to be done. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 194, 201–203.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hayward, M. D., & Grady, W. R. (1990). Work and retirement among a cohort of older men in the United States, 1966-1983. Demography, 27, 337–356.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hickman, J. C., & Estell, R. J. (1969). On the use of partial life expectancies in setting health goals. American Journal of Public Health and the Nations Health, 59, 2243–2250.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Hoem, J. M. (1971). Point estimation of forces of transition in demographic models. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series B: Methodological, 33, 275–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hytti, H., & Nio, I. (2004). Monitoring the employment strategy and the duration of active working life. Social security and health research: working papers 38/2004. Finland. The Social Insurance Institution.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krishnan, P. (1986). Unemployment tables and unemployment-free working life: Sri Lanka. Marg, 8, 67–76.

    Google Scholar 

  • Krueger, K. V., & Slesnick, F. (2014). Total worklife expectancy. Journal of Forensic Economics, 25, 51–70.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lacaille, D., & Hogg, R. S. (2001). The effect of arthritis on working life expectancy. The Journal of Rheumatology, 28, 2315–2319.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leinonen, T., Martikainen, P., & Myrskylä, M. (2015). Working life and retirement expectancies at age 50 by social class: Period and cohort trends and projections for Finland. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 73, 302–313.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Lièvre, A., Jusot, F., Barnay, T., et al. (2007). Healthy working life expectancies at age 50 in Europe: a new indicator. The Journal of Nutrition, Health & Aging, 11, 508–514.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loichinger, E. (2015). Labor force projections up to 2053 for 26 EU countries, by age, sex, and highest level of educational attainment. Demographic Research, 32, 443–486.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Loichinger, E., & Weber, D. (2016). Trends in working life expectancy in Europe. Journal of Aging and Health, 28, 1194–1213.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Majer, I. M., Nusselder, W. J., Mackenbach, J. P., et al. (2011). Socioeconomic inequalities in life and health expectancies around official retirement age in 10 Western-European countries. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 65, 972–979.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Massy-Westropp, N. M., Gill, T. K., Taylor, A. W., et al. (2011). Hand Grip Strength: age and gender stratified normative data in a population-based study. BMC Research Notes, 4, 127.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Millimet, D. L., Nieswiadomy, M., & Slottje, D. (2010). Detailed estimation of worklife expectancy for the measurement of human capital: accounting for marriage and children. Journal of Economic Surveys, 24, 339–361.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Nurminen M (2012) Working-life expectancy in Finland: Trends and differentials 2000–2015. A multistate regression modeling approach.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nurminen, M., & Nurminen, T. (2005). Multistate worklife expectancies. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 31, 169–178.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Nurminen, M. M., Heathcote, C. R., Davis, B. A., et al. (2005). Working life expectancies: The case of Finland 1980-2006. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society: Series A (Statistics in Society), 168, 567–581.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Palamuleni, M. E. (2007). Working life tables for South Africa, 1996–2001. African Population Studies, 22, 223–246.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ritchie, L. J., & Tuokko, H. (2010). Mild cognitive impairment: case definitions, age, and other risk factors. In J. Stone & M. Blouin (Eds.), International encyclopedia of rehabilitation.

    Google Scholar 

  • Salomon, J. A., Wang, H., Freeman, M. K., et al. (2012). Healthy life expectancy for 187 countries, 1990-2010: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden Disease Study 2010. The Lancet, 380, 2144–2162.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Salthouse, T. (2010). Major issues in cognitive aging. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. (2004). General mental ability in the world of work: occupational attainment and job performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86, 162–173.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Shephard, R. J. (2000). Aging and productivity: some physiological issues. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 25, 535–545.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Skirbekk, V., Loichinger, E., & Weber, D. (2012). Variation in cognitive functioning as a refined approach to comparing aging across countries. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109, 770–774.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, T. W. (1986). Classifying protestant denominations. Chicago, IL: NORC.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spitz-Oener, A. (2006). Technical change, job tasks, and rising educational demands: Looking outside the wage structure. Journal of Labor Economics, 24, 235–270.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Steiber, N. (2016). Strong or weak handgrip? Normative reference values for the German population across the life course stratified by sex, age, and body height. PLoS One, 11, e0163917.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, D. F. (1971). A single index of mortality and morbidity. HSMHA Health Reports, 86, 347–354.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Tareque, M. I., Saito, Y., & Kawahara, K. (2015). Application of health expectancy research on working male population in Bangladesh. Asian Population Studies, 11, 32–43.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. E. (2010). Mechanisms linking early life stress to adult health outcomes. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107, 8507–8512.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • van der Noordt, M., van der Pas, S., van Tilburg, T. G., et al. (2019). Changes in working life expectancy with disability in the Netherlands, 1992–2016. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment & Health, 45, 73–81. https://doi.org/10.5271/sjweh.3765.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Weber, D., Skirbekk, V., Freund, I., et al. (2014). The changing face of cognitive gender differences in Europe. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111, 11673–11678.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Willekens, F. J. (1980). Multistate analysis: tables of working life. Environment and Planning A, 12, 563–588.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wolfbein, S. L. (1949). The length of working life. Population Studies, 3, 286–294.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Wubulihasimu, P., Brouwer, W., & van Baal, P. (2015). Does living longer in good health facilitate longer working lives? The relationship between disability and working lives. The European Journal of Public Health, 25, 791–795.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Federal Institute for Population Research, Wiesbaden, Germany

    Elke Loichinger

  2. International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria

    Daniela Weber

  3. Vienna University of Economics and Business, Vienna, Austria

    Daniela Weber

Authors
  1. Elke Loichinger
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Daniela Weber
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Elke Loichinger .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Population Health Sciences Institute, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK

    Carol Jagger

  2. Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Eileen M. Crimmins

  3. College of Economics, Nihon University, Tokyo, Japan

    Yasuhiko Saito

  4. Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Sciensano, Brussels, Belgium

    Renata Tiene De Carvalho Yokota & Herman Van Oyen & 

  5. Department of Sociology, Interface Demography, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Brussels, Belgium

    Renata Tiene De Carvalho Yokota

  6. Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Herman Van Oyen

  7. Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (Inserm) and Ecole pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Paris, France

    Jean-Marie Robine

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Loichinger, E., Weber, D. (2020). Combining Working Life and Health Expectancies. In: Jagger, C., Crimmins, E.M., Saito, Y., De Carvalho Yokota, R.T., Van Oyen, H., Robine, JM. (eds) International Handbook of Health Expectancies. International Handbooks of Population, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37668-0_18

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37668-0_18

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-37666-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-37668-0

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)