DOES REMOTE WORK HELP OLDER PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

One aspect of the pandemic that has persisted is the increased relevance of remote work. This shift could help older people with disabilities, who might otherwise find it hard to get or keep jobs. Indeed, this group has a higher employment rate post-pandemic than pre-pandemic. Remote work, though, might not be the only factor contributing to this trend. First, more people report having a work-limiting impairment than before the pandemic. If these new health conditions are relatively mild, then the rising prevalence of disability, by itself, could lead to a higher employment rate among this group. Second, the labor market has been extremely tight in recent years, which could also help boost employment rates among those with disabilities. This brief, based on a new study, examines the extent to which remote work has contributed to the rising employment rate of older individuals with disabilities and which types of these workers – based on their recent work history – have benefited the most.1 The discussion proceeds as follows. The first section provides background on the rise of remote work, employment trends for older people with disabilities, By Siyan Liu and Laura D. Quinby* RESEARCH RETIREMENT and the two other factors that could be playing a role: the rising prevalence of disability and the tight labor market. The second section introduces the data and methodology for the analysis. The third section presents the results. The final section concludes that remote work has increased employment among older workers with disabilities by encouraging some to reenter the labor force and others to switch to remote work instead of exiting the labor force.