Multidimensional health patterns and labor market participation among older workers: Evidence from a European six-year follow-up study

Health is a multidimensional concept and consists of different dimensions such as mental and physical health. In this study, we built on this conception of health by investigating the effects of multidimensional health patterns (MHP) on labor force participation among older workers. We used data from 5`006 older workers (mean age: 55.8 years; 56% female) from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. In a first step, we conducted a latent transition analysis with four health indicators (chronic diseases, limitations with activities, self-perceived health, and depressive symptoms) to identify the MHP. In a second step, we assessed the association of the MHP with workers' labor force participation six years after the first point of observation using Wald tests. Our analysis provided us with four MHP: (1) overall healthy workers, (2) workers with moderate activity limitations and low self-perceived health, (3) physically healthy workers with low self-perceived health and depressive symptoms, and (4) workers with overall poor health. We found differences between the MHP in job situation (p < 0.001) and changes in working hours (p < 0.001) four years later, with MHP 4 showing the highest probability of being permanently sick or disabled and MPH 2 and 3 showing the greatest reductions in working hours. Our results imply that physical health is a better predictor of labor force participation among older workers than other dimensions of health. Using health as a multidimensional construct thus allows to better understand the social implications of poor health.