Poor health is the primary reason why more than half of middle-aged workers in the United States retire earlier than planned, but state vocational rehabilitation agencies that provide career assistance to individuals with disabilities may be able to help potential retirees remain in the workforce longer, according to a study led by Allison Fleming, associate professor of education at Penn State.
Fleming analyzed anonymized responses from 12,712 participants who reported a forced or voluntary retirement as part of the University of Michigan's Health and Retirement Study, a 28-year study of U.S. adults aged 55 and over, to understand what factors drove them to leave the workforce earlier than they planned. She found that poor health was the primary driver behind forced retirements. She reported the study findings in the journal Rehabilitation Counseling Bulletin. The study is available as an online first article prior to print publication.
"Disability is something that can happen to anyone at any time," Fleming said. "In the U.S., a greater proportion of working-age adults are over 40, and we have more people who will be entering their retirement years. But as a group, we are seeing higher trends of onset of chronic illness and disability - or CID - in midlife that could potentially be disabling for some workers. The consequences of being forced out of the workforce before you plan to can be really devastating, especially financially."
Middle adulthood, ranging approximately from ages 45 to 60, marks a time of peak earnings potential and career success for many American workers. But this stage of life is also when many individuals experience the onset of CID. As a former vocational counselor for the state of Massachusetts, Fleming observed that workers who incurred CID in middle age had a difficult time re-entering the workforce.
"Many workers are not prepared financially to retire 10 years earlier than planned, and on average it takes two years from time of application to receive Social Security disability benefits, during which time the individual cannot work," Fleming said. "I don't know many people who could financially survive two years of not working."
In addition to the financial hit, there may be health costs associated with an involuntary retirement. Fleming cited other studies that found that individuals who are forced to retire report worse physical and mental health outcomes, such as depression and anxiety, than individuals who retire as planned or voluntarily retire to pursue other work or spend more time with family.
In terms of sociodemographic factors, Fleming found that racial or ethnic minorities were up to 55% more likely than white respondents to report an involuntary retirement. Individuals with a college degree or higher were 63% less likely than those without a high school education to say they had been forced to retire early, she reported.
"Folks in more privileged jobs may be in a position to ask for accommodations, get flexibility, have paid time off to attend medical appointments, things like that, versus folks who don't have access to those things, whose job means they only get paid for hours worked, who can't take time off to attend medical appointments or work in very high turnover industries where workers are considered replaceable," Fleming said. "There's privilege within our labor market that made a lot of sense to me based on my previous experience as an employment counselor, and that was reflected in this data."
State vocational rehabilitation agencies could be in a good position to help employees and employers address those issues, Fleming said.
"Sometimes we call rehabilitation counseling the best kept secret," she said. "Every state and territory has one of these state vocational rehabilitation agencies. The organizations are 75% federally funded and 25% state funded. They employ rehabilitation counselors who are trained in disability and employment, and that person is available to meet with someone who's applying for services, decide if they're eligible, and if so, they have the capacity to help that person come up with an employment plan."
Employment plans can include advice on accommodations like schedule flexibility or having a stool to sit on instead of standing all shift, to software solutions for individuals who use computers for work but have visual impairments. Counselors may speak with employers about worker accommodations and even purchase equipment on the company's behalf, Fleming explained.
"Trying to find a job when you're an older worker and you have a disability or health condition is really difficult, no matter how talented or qualified you are," she said. "I would hope that these state rehabilitation agencies would try to raise their profile a little bit, maybe partner with doctors or medical professionals who are diagnosing people in midlife with chronic conditions to say, 'Hey, work might not be a concern for you now, but it may become one, and if so, here's an organization who could help.'"
