Has the share of the working life expectancy that is spent receiving a partial or full disability pension changed in Finland over the period 2005–2018? A longitudinal register-based study

Abstract

ObjectivesThe share of the overall working careers that is spent receiving disability benefits is unclear. We examined trends in full-time equivalent working life expectancy (FTE-WLE) among those with and without receiving a permanent full or partial disability pension in Finland, where certain amounts of work are allowed while receiving these pensions.DesignLongitudinal register-based study.SettingFinnish population.ParticipantsNationally representative 70% samples of the working-age population.OutcomeUsing the Sullivan method, we examined annual FTE-WLE at age 45, truncated at age 63, in 2005–2018 by disability pension status. Full-time equivalent work participation was based on combined information on annual employment days and work income.ResultsCompared with those with no disability pension, disability pensioners had a larger relative (full and partial pensioners of both genders) and absolute (male partial pensioners) increase in the FTE-WLE between 2005 and 2018. In 2018, the FTE-WLE of both male and female full disability pensioners was around 3.5 months, being 6 months at its highest in musculoskeletal diseases. The FTE-WLE of partial disability pensioners was around 6.5 and 8 years among men and women, respectively, being around half of the corresponding expectancies of non-pensioners. The FTE-WLE of partial disability pensioners was considerable in musculoskeletal diseases and mental disorders and even higher in other diseases. Full disability pensioners spent a disproportionately large time in manual work, increasingly in the private sector, and partial pensioners in the public sector with lower non-manual and manual work, increasingly with the former. At the population level, the share of the FTE-WLE that is spent receiving a disability pension remained relatively small.ConclusionsIncreased work participation while receiving a disability pension is likely to have had important implications for prolonging individual working careers but only minor contribution to the length of working lives at the population level.

Länger gesund im Beruf? Trends in den Lebensjahren frei von Herz-Kreislauf- und Muskel-Skelett-Erkrankungen in GKV-Daten für die Erwerbstätigen- und Allgemeinbevölkerung

“…Muskel-Skelett-Erkrankungen (MSE) stellen weltweit eine der Hauptursachen von chronischem Schmerz und Behinderungen dar [ 3 , 18 ]. Sie belasten die Betroffenen auch im Erwerbsalter oft so stark, dass ein vorzeitiges Ausscheiden aus dem Arbeitsmarkt wahrscheinlicher wird [ 4 , 19 ]. In Deutschland sind sie eine der häufigsten Ursachen für Arbeitsunfähigkeit [ 20 ].…”