O-40 Industrial sector differences in working years lost due to work disability and unemployment after the financial crisis

• Published in: Occupational and environmental medicine (London, England) England), 2023-03, Vol.80 (Suppl 1), p.A34-A34
• Main Authors: Leinonen, Taina, Viikari-Juntura, Eira, Solovieva, Svetlana
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Abstracts; Disability pensions; Economic crisis; Employment; Females; Health promotion; Illnesses; Males; Populations; Retirement; Unemployment
• ISSN: 1351-0711; 1470-7926
• DOI: 10.1136/OEM-2023-EPICOH.81

IntroductionLittle is known about working years lost (WYL) due to work disability in different industrial sectors. This information would help in directing interventions promoting healthy working careers, knowing that the sectors have been differently affected by economic fluctuations and other changes in the labour market. We examined trends in WYL due to work disability, unemployment and other causes in the general Finnish population and by industrial sector in the period after the 2008 financial crisis.Material and MethodsUtilising register data on the Finnish working-age population and the Sullivan method, we calculated expected WYL due to sickness absence, other temporary work disability, partial disability retirement, full disability retirement, unemployment and other reasons in years 2010, 2013 and 2016 for the general male and female populations and by industrial sector.ResultsThe total expected WYL between age 30 and 65 increased from 9.32 and 9.29 years in 2010 to 9.54 and 9.83 years in 2016 among the general male and female populations, respectively. Moreover, unemployment replaced full disability retirement as the main cause for WYL. WYL due to sickness absence, other temporary work disability, partial disability retirement and other reasons remained relatively stable. The largest number of WYL was expected in the accommodation and food service activities, administrative and support service activities and more recently also in the arts, entertainment and other service activities. The differences by industrial sector in WYL were attributable more to unemployment than to the different work disability statuses.ConclusionAfter the financial crisis unemployment appears to have replaced disability retirement as the dominant reason for WYL. Working careers appear to be more unstable in particular industrial sectors, which may relate to features of employment in these sectors, but also to these sectors providing employment for individuals with instability in their prior working life.