Background: The efforts to extend working lives are accompanied by the question of whether it is possible for all employees to work longer for health reasons. Existing studies show for example that particularly workers in a lower socioeconomic position have a comparatively higher risk to prematurely retire. It is therefore likely that an increase of the state pension age puts particular pressure on such workers; however, studies on socioeconomic differences of disability retirement focusing on older workers in Germany are missing.
Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate whether social inequality exists for reduced earning capacity also for older workers.
Material and methods: The study relied on administrative data of the German pension insurance (DRV). Detailed information on the course of insurance was available for a random sample of all insured persons born in the years 1947 and 1961 (aged 59 and 45 years respectively at the beginning of the observational period; n = 160,688). Using Cox regressions (adjusted for working hours, national citizenship and location of workplace) associations between three socioeconomic features (education, occupation and income) and the risk of disability retirement in the observational period were investigated. The analysis was carried out separately for both cohorts (born 1947 and 1961) of younger and older employees and separately for men and women.
Results and conclusion: The results showed an increased risk of reduction in earning capacity even for older workers with a low socioeconomic position compared to those in a higher position. For men this is true for all three socioeconomic features investigated and both cohorts. For women the association was also observed with the exception of education and occupational position for those born in 1947. In the efforts to extend working lives, special attention should be paid to persons in lower socioeconomic positions in order to protect them from new disadvantages.
Keywords: Disability pension; Education; Income; Occupation; Old age.