Controlling for Structural Changes in the Workforce Influenced Occupational Class Differences in Disability Retirement Trends

Svetlana Solovieva, Taina Leinonen, Kirsti Husgafvel-Pursiainen, Antti Kauhanen, Pekka Vanhala, Rita Asplund and Eira Viikari-Juntura
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Svetlana Solovieva: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, 00032 Helsinki, Finland
Taina Leinonen: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, 00032 Helsinki, Finland
Kirsti Husgafvel-Pursiainen: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, 00032 Helsinki, Finland
Antti Kauhanen: Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Pekka Vanhala: Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Rita Asplund: Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
Eira Viikari-Juntura: Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, 00032 Helsinki, Finland

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 9, 1-15

Abstract: We explored occupational class differences in disability retirement trends accounting for structural changes in the workforce induced by the recent economic crisis and the following economic stagnation. Using nationwide register data on the general Finnish population aged 30–59 years, we examined trends in disability retirement due to all causes, musculoskeletal diseases, and mental disorders in 2007, 2010, and 2013. Applying propensity score (PS) matching to control for bias induced by structural changes in the workforce over time, we obtained 885,807 matched triplets. In the original study population, all-cause and cause-specific disability retirement declined between 2007 and 2013 for most occupational classes. In the matched study population, the disability retirement among skilled and unskilled manual workers sharply increased in 2010 and then declined in 2013. PS matching considerably attenuated the decline in disability retirement, particularly between the years 2007 and 2010. In general, the differences in disability retirement between both skilled and unskilled manual workers and upper-level non-manual employees widened during the period of economic stagnation. In occupational epidemiology, structural changes in the workforce should be accounted for when analysing trends in ill-health. Controlling for these changes revealed widening occupational class differences in disability retirement during the period of economic stagnation.

Keywords: mental disorders; musculoskeletal diseases; pension; propensity score matching; register study; work disability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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