Occupation, Working Hours and Arthritis: Evidence from a Nationally Representative Sample of Older Age Adults

Driven by falling fertility rates and increase in life expectancy, aging populations is
an evident phenomenon. In line with this demographic change, even though health
deteriorates with age, many older workers is expected to continue working and
participate in labor force. Accordingly, analyzing health effects of various working
conditions are central to develop policies and interventions to ensure healthy aging
workforce. Against this background, the article examines the probability of
developing arthritis for older workers in relation to working hours and occupation
categories in the United States. Using Health and Retirement Study, a nationally
representative data set for the US, we found that increasing a person’s working
hours reduces their probability of developing arthritis. Moreover, we identified that
considering probability of developing arthritis, higher and lower risk occupations
differ by gender. Low-risk occupations for both sexes are professional specialty
operation and technical support and clerical, administrative support. The only
common high-risk occupation is health services.