Aging workforce & changing disability demographics
The age and disability demographics of developed nations are changing. Populations are aging fast and for reasons relating to health and changing lifestyles the incidence of particular impairments is increasing.
Age and disability are closely linked.
- 33% of older workers aged 50 - 64 in the UK have a disability
- 63% of Europeans with disabilities are older than 45 [i]
- Between 2000 and 2020 the numbers of over - 55s in the labour force in the US will increase 50%, from 13% of the total labour force to 20% [ii]
- In the UK, by 2012 only a third of the workforce will be male and under 45 [iii]
Older workers have different employment demands. As their numbers increase this is likely to significantly affect employment relations and patterns of working:
- Flexibility: Older workers (those aged 50 and over) want increased flexibility in the period running up to state retirement age and the option to continue working after this time [iv]
- Self-employment and contracts: Employment rates for people in their 50s have risen 7% between 1995 and 2002. 1 in 5 older workers are self-employed [v]
- Retirement: 30% of Americans are happy to work until they're 70 and 13% dread retirement, a feeling that increases with age [vi]
What has not yet sunk in is that a growing number of older people — say those over 50 — will not keep on working as traditional full-time nine-to-five employees, but will participate in the labour force in many new and different ways: as temporaries, as part-timers, as consultants, on special assignments and so on…New ways of working with people at arms length will increasingly become the central managerial issue of employing organisations, and not just of businesses.
Peter Drucker, The Economist, November 1, 2001.
B&Q
B&Q was among the first British companies to focus on recruiting traditionally excluded groups including women returning from career breaks, older and disabled people. Today more than a fifth of B&Q's 38,000 staff are over 50.
Ian Cheshire, B&Q's chief executive, says: "There are clear business benefits to employing a workforce that is age diverse and reflects the customer profile." B&Q found that older workers were no less productive, despite preconceptions. Cheshire says: "We have found that older workers have a great rapport with the customers, as well as a conscientious attitude and real enthusiasm for the job." [vii]
Disability confident employers will be able to make the adjustments needed by the 33% of older workers who have a disability and will create the enabling environment which will be necessary in order for employees to continue to contribute as they age.
Changing disability demographics
Rates of disability are increasing as people live longer. The types of impairments experienced by disabled people are also changing. Impairments related to age such as arthritis are increasing. However there is also evidence that changing lifestyles and health is affecting the type of impairments which are affecting people.
Between 1990 and 2000, the number of Americans with disabilities increased 25%, outpacing any other subgroup of the U.S. population. About 1 in 5 people in America now have a disability the leading causes of which are arthritis (17.5%), back problems (16.5%), and heart trouble (7.8%): marks of an aging society. [viii]
Disability and ethnicity
Some types of impairments are experienced disproportionately by people from different ethnic minorities, either for genetic reasons, or more often because of socio-economic factors such as higher unemployment.
Disability rates in the US vary among prominent ethnic groups including African Americans and Native Americans at 24.4%, Latinos at 20.9%, European Americans at 18.3% and Asians at 16.6% [ix]
Mental Health
The impact of mental health problems on individuals and on employers is increasing. There is some evidence that increasing mental health problems are due in part to changes in lifestyles and working life patterns.
- About one quarter of new disability benefits paid in Europe are due to mental illness. The nature of the illnesses giving rise to early retirement and disability claims is changing: stress-related and mental health problems are now increasingly common [x]
- Disabled people with mental health problems in the UK have the lowest employment rates of all impairment categories, at only 21 per cent. [xi]
- In Finland between 1990 and 2003 the number of paid sickness absences for formally diagnosed mental health problems increased by 93%. 20% of all sickness benefits and 42% of all disability pensions were paid out for people with mental health problems; overall around 50% of all people recorded as suffering from depression are on long term disability pensions [xii]
- Absence rates in Austria due to mental health difficulties have increased 156% since 1993 [xiii]
- In 2000, The United States spent $83.1 billion for costs associated with depression and $63.1 billion for costs associated with anxiety disorders [xiv]
Research shows a clear link between work and mental health. Being in work is largely good for mental health, however the way in which work is structured, levels of stress and responsibility are all factors which have a huge impact on increases in mental health problems. A recent study of 250,000 adults, found that low job satisfaction is linked to depression, reduced self-esteem and emotional burn-out. Even a small drop in job satisfaction could lead to burnout of ‘considerable clinical importance’
Stress is not a disability. However, unmanaged stress is a significant factor in a large number of disabling conditions. Good disability management can help to minimise the effects of stress and avoid employees becoming disabled.
Rolls Royce
Having identified that stress and minor mental illness accounted for 12 per cent of certified absence and 15 per cent of days lost, Rolls-Royce adopted a number of initiatives as highlighted in an HSE report ‘Beacons of excellence in stress prevention' (2003).
In 1997 the company launched a booklet ‘A managers' guide to mental health at work' for every line manager. The preface was signed by the chief medical officer, the director of human resources and the chief executive.
In 2000 Rolls-Royce developed an online questionnaire to support managers with a risk assessment approach to managing workplace pressure. It has also developed a course to take managers through the risk assessment and another to help them understand their role - and that of human resources and occupational health - when an employee has stress problems. Another course on general stress issues is available for employees, as is an employee assistance programme.
In 2002 Rolls-Royce conducted a health promotion campaign in which over 2,000 employees completed the stress questionnaire. This has provided a baseline for future benchmarking.
Mind provides more information on the prevalence of mental health problems in the UK