The Health Burden of Job Strain: Evidence from Europe

Abstract

This study examines the impact of occupational stressors and tasks throughout an individual’s career on their health in older age. Leveraging comprehensive job occupation data from the SHARE dataset, we establish precise connections between stressors and specific jobs at the 4-digit ISCO code level. To ensure accurate measurement of physical exertion, we propose the use of Metabolic Equivalent of Task (MET) based on the metabolic rate consumption associated with each task. Our study makes two key contributions. First, we provide compelling evidence that individuals, especially women, engaged in physically demanding jobs experience significantly worse health in older age. Our results remain valid after conducting several robustness checks and after controlling for a rich set of variables. Secondly, we introduce a novel methodology to identify harmful tasks and measure overall Job Strain Intensity, which also incorporates unobserved occupational stressors. This approach allows us to pinpoint specific harmful tasks and 4-digit ISCO codes, providing valuable insights for targeted retirement schemes and addressing important considerations regarding the fairness of statutory retirement ages. Additionally, policymakers can benefit from our findings to foster healthier work environments and guide investments towards automating high-risk tasks, thereby improving overall workplace safety and well-being.

Keywords: Health, Job Tasks, Working Conditions, MET

JEL Classification: I1, I14, I18, J24, J28