There are聽20 million Americans between聽55 and 60.聽Nearly 1 million聽are unemployed, according to the Labor Department.聽Many more聽lack health coverage,聽suggests the Census Bureau’s on income, poverty and health insurance. Thanks to the lousy economy, the聽whole group is at higher聽risk for聽long-term health problems and earlier death,聽suggests聽new research聽from聽Wellesley College.
Wellesley economist Phillip B.聽Levine and colleagues mashed mortality聽and employment data over the past four decades to find what you might expect but聽what had never been measured on this scale:聽Experiencing an economic recession聽in your late 50s, on average, isn’t聽just bad for聽your wallet.
“Being unfortunate enough to experience a recession as an older worker has significant lifelong effects for one’s health,” Levine said in an interview.
Lack of income and health insurance are the presumed聽causes. The research is a at the National Bureau of Economic Research.
The risk聽disappears for slightly older people, the economists found. Folks who were 62 or older when聽recessions聽and high unemployment hit showed survival rates little聽different from聽those who lived through a normal economy at that age.聽The theory:聽The Social Security program that kicks in at age 62 and the Medicare program that starts at 65 carried people through economic turbulence in ways that were unavailable to the slightly younger.
“It stresses the importance of Social Security to the well-being of the elderly,” Levine said. “If you hit a recession at 57, you have to figure out how you’re going to survive for the next several years. And that’s very difficult for a lot of people.”
Measured across the whole population of older workers, a recession’s effect on long-term health聽was subtle.聽If unemployment popped聽5 percentage points while people were in their聽late 50s, their聽chances of living into their聽70s fell by 0.0015 to 0.0020 percentage points, the economists found.
“Although these effects might appear to be incredibly small, it is important to interpret them within the context of the number of workers who lose their jobs during a recession, the number who may lose health insurance, and then the number of those whose health may be seriously affected as a result,” they wrote.
For example:聽In August there were聽400,000 more unemployed Americans aged 55-59聽than there were five聽years ago, according to the Labor Department.
Ironically, shows that recessions improve society-wide health in the short term. Less driving (fewer crashes) and less money to blow on alcohol聽are among the reasons.聽But for聽unemployed workers in their 50s, that’s probably small聽consolation.
