1. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. How does health affect working beyond state pension age? Rebecca Benson, Amanda Sacker, Karen Glaser April 13, 2016 UCL ES/L002825/1

2. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. Background “Extended working lives” is a key policy response to the financial challenges posed by ageing populations But how could older workers’ health affect this policy?

3. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. What do we already know? Poor health is strongly associated with leaving the labour force before pension age

4. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. What do we need to know? Does health affect workforce participation beyond state pension age (SPA)? Can we identify levels of (ill)health that predict lower workforce participation beyond SPA?

5. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. Data English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) – Representative sample of the English population aged 50 and over Outcome: hours worked/week Health measures – allostatic load, an index from 0-9 – self rated health

6. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. Measuring Health: Allostatic Load Allostatic load is a measure of “wear and tear” Biological measures of many body systems categorised as at risk/not at risk Total allostatic risk score ranges from 0 to 9

7. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. Results

8. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. Results summary As allostatic load increases work hours decrease even when other factors taken into account However, only for men

9. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. Implications Health, as measured by allostatic load, may act as a barrier to policies seeking to delay workforce exit Such policies may risk worsening health inequalities

10. WHERL is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Medical Research Council (MRC) through an Extended Working Lives Consortia Grant. www.wherl.ac.uk rebecca.benson@ucl.ac.uk Questions ES/L002825/1