Aging & Work Facts Database

This database provides you with easy-to-access facts and statistics related to aging & work. Here you will find:

• A sentence with a fact/statistic.
• The full citation so you can locate the source of the statistic (e.g., article, report, etc.).
• A short description of the study connected to the fact/statistic.
• And, in some cases, a figure representing the facts or statistics, such as a bar graph.

SEARCH BY TOPIC: Age Bias and Employment Discrimination Business Strategies & Workforce Development Caregiving: Elder Caregiving: Employer-sponsored benefits for Caregiving: Other (grandchildren, spouse, dependents) Demographics: Age Distribution, Life Expectancy Education and Training Educational Attainment Employee Engagement & Job Satisfaction Employer-sponsored benefits (see also Caregiving) Employment Preferences Flexible Work Options (general) Flexible Work Options: Bridge Jobs Flexible Work Options: Consulting, Contract Work, Self-employment Flexible Work Options: Flexible Schedule Flexible Work Options: Leaves of Absence Flexible Work Options: Part-time Employment Flexible Work Options: Phased Retirement Flexible Work Options: Remote Work, Telecommuting, Telework Flexible Work Options: Work Redesign Gender Health: Health Behaviors Health: Health Care Costs Health: Health Insurance Health: Health Status Analysis of data from the 2002 National Study of the Changing Workforce shows that "among older workers, the odds of being very satisfied with life are 187.8% higher for those...  more According to the 2001-02 American Productivity Audit, lost productive time due to back pain is higher in younger men; almost 3% of men in the 18-39 age range report 2 or more...  more According to the 2001-02 American Productivity Audit, lost productive time due to arthritis was highest in older age groups; for example less than 1% of women aged 25-29 lost...  more According to the 2001-02 American Productivity Audit, lost productive time due to headache was highest in males and females in younger age groups; for example approximately 6....  more Analysis of the American Productivity Audit (2001-02) indicates that "thirteen percent of the total workforce experienced a loss in productive time during a 2 week period due...  more In a 2002 study of 135,000 current and retired employees of a large company, individuals with low risk factors (e.g. absence of obesity, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, high blo...  more For workers over the age of 40, the top four STD [short-term disability] impairments with the longest durations of time away from work are cancer and mental health disorders,...  more Based on analysis of the UnumProvident Disability Database, 2002-2004, "The primary drivers of long term impairments and work disruptions for the older worker are musculoskele...  more Analysis of the UnumProvident Disability Database shows that "workers over the age of 40 have lower incidence of work injuries, short term disability and unscheduled absences...  more According to the 2001-02 American Productivity Audit, the prevalence of depression among workers of all ages was 9.4% during a 2-week study period; among ages 18-35, the preva...  more According to analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the injury and illness incidence rate gap has been closing between older and younger workers. The rate for y...  more According to CPS data on self-reported health status, "17 percent of persons age 55-64 have a work-limiting health problem compared with 9 percent of persons age 40-54 and 5 p...  more According to a 2007 report, "in 2001, 82% of people between the ages of 50-64 reported being in good to excellent health, with 42% being in very good or excellent health. Two-...  more In a 2008 study on women's poverty status, 53% of African-American women reported good health during the years from midlife (ages 30-44 in 1967) until they reached retirem...  more In a 2008 study of workers aged 55-65 who had been diagnosed with cancer in 1997-99, the cancer survivors of both genders worked an average of 3-5 hours less per week than a c...  more Based on analysis of 2001 BLS data, three age groups (25-34, 35-44, and 45-54) accounted for 78.9% of cases of musculoskeletal disorders [injuries or disorders of the muscles,...  more In a 2006 analysis of data from the Health and Retirement Survey, adults 51-61 years of age "who were uninsured at baseline had a 35 percent higher mortality rate (adjusted fo...  more A 2004 analysis of National Health Interview Survey data indicates that the extent to which obesity contributes to disability "varies by age group, but it is clearly the domin...  more According to a 2006 Census Bureau report , "data suggests that aging is associated with diminishing perceived health status." For example, 76.2% of people of age 18-24 reporte...  more According to the 2001-02 American Productivity Audit, 8.63 percent of 18 to 29 year old workers reported that they lost more than 2 hours a week in productive time due to pain...  more Based on analysis of the 2002-04 UnumProvident Disability Database, musculoskeletal injuries are the most prevalent cause of short-term disabilities for workers over the age o...  more Based on analysis of the 2002-04 UnumProvident Disability Database, "The over-40 worker with musculoskeletal injury or impairment is reported to stay off work 12 days longer,...  more A majority of older Americans, 65 and over, report that they have "excellent" health, and its is widely expected that tomorrow's older Americans will be healthier in compa...  more 25 percent of people retiring between ages 50 and 58 cited poor health as an important reason for their retirement decisions, compared with 35 percent of those retiring betwee...  more "Among all 66-70 year-olds surveyed, 49% characterize their health as excellent or very good. Only 20% said their health was fair or poor. Among 60-65 year olds, just over h...  more According to the 2003 Eldercare Survey conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 29% of HR professionals reported their organization has seen "stress-rela...  more Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the experiences of retirees who were aged 51 to 61 in 1992 and therefore who were 61 to 71 in 2002, Cahill a...  more 5.9% of persons age 50-61 in the top 25% of income earners were in poor or fair health in 1997. 9.5% of persons age 62-74 in the top 25% of income earners were in poor or f...  more 45.7% of persons age 50-61 in the bottom 25% of income earners were in poor or fair health in 1997. 39.4% of persons age 62-74 in the bottom 25% of income earners were in p...  more Among the organzations responding to a 2007 national survey, the return on investment (ROI) is measured on the following HR priorities: initiatives to increase retention (52.6...  more According to the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, 72.0% of adults 18 to 44 years old, 56.4% of adults ages 45 to 64, and 42.3% of adults ages 65 to 74 reported being in...  more According to the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, 6.0% of adults ages 18 to 44 reported that they must limit their participation in "usual activities" -- such as work, s...  more Based on analysis of the 2002-04 UnumProvident Disability Database, "workers over the age of 40 account for 50% of all received short-term disability (STD) claims, and up to 7...  more According to the 2001-02 American Productivity Audit, "50-65 year olds reported only two-thirds of the lost productive time (LPT*) [due to health reasons] compared with those...  more Among older workers in a 2004 study on work limitations due to illness, arthritis was reported by 28% of workers aged 50-54, 34% of those aged 55-59, and 43% of those aged 60-...  more In a 2002 study of worker productivity, 14.8% of workers [all ages] reported that a doctor has said they have arthritis. 5.9% of the respondants reported that they are under m...  more Among all workers [all ages combined] in a 2004 study who reported having at least one medical condition for which they are being treated by a physician, 25.4% reported experi...  more In a 2004 study of employees in a large company, almost half (47%) of all respondents [all ages combined] indicated having at least one health condition for which they were cu...  more According to the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, 95.2% of respondents aged 18-44 years old reported that they were "not limited in work" because of physical, mental or...  more According to the 2005 National Health Interview Survey, 2.9% of repondents 18-44 years old reported themselves as "unable to work" due to a physical, mental or emotional probl...  more In 2000, 41.9% of persons age 65 and above had one or more sensory, physical, mental, self-care or go-outside-home disabilities....  more      back to top For a print-ready file of all statistics for this topic, click here. Health: Workplace Injuries Income Knowledge Transfer Labor Force Participation Marital Status Medicare & Medicaid Mental Health Multi-generational Workplace Older Workers, Advantages of Older Workers, Costs of Older Workers, Job Skills and Demands Older Workers, Perceptions about Peformance, Productivity, Absenteeism Pensions and Retirement Accounts Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration Reasons for working Recruitment , Retention, Tenure, Turnover Retirement Income & Expenditures Retirement Planning Retirement Statistics Retirement, Timing of Social Security Unemployment Voluntarism

DOWNLOAD A FACT SHEET: The following Fact Sheets contain selected facts and statistics from the database ( PDF format): "Mental Health" (Sep 2007) "Bridge Jobs" (Aug 2007) "Part-time Work" (Jul 2007) "The Multi-Generational Workplace" (Jul 2007) "Phased Retirement" (Jun 2007) "Age Bias And Employment Discrimination" (Feb 2007) "Employer Sponsored Pensions" (Feb 2007) "Age and the Labor Force" (Jan 2007) "Social Security and Older Workers" (Jan 2007) "Voluntarism Among Older Adults" (Jan 2007) "Older Workers’ Preferences for Work & Employ-ment" (Oct 2006) "Elder Caregiving" (Oct 2006)   SEARCH BY keyword: back to top