Job quality continuity and change in later working life and the mediating role of mental and physical health on employment participation

In times of demographic change, better job quality is needed to promote health and thereby extend employment participation among older workers. Past research has focussed on the investigation of single job quality characteristics, but neglected their combined effects on health and employment. To address this limitation, we have built upon an established typology based on nine job quality characteristics and representing five profiles of overall poor or good job quality constellations among manual and non-manual older workers, respectively. It was investigated how constant and changing job quality affects non-employment and how mental and physical health mediate this association. Analyses were based on representative data from N = 2,952 employees born in 1959 or 1965, who participated in all current waves (in the years 2011, 2014 and 2018) of the German lidA cohort study. Job quality was measured in 2011 and 2014 according to profile assignment per wave, composite mental and physical health scores from 2014 were used as mediators and non-employment (vs. employment) in 2018 represented the outcome. Two separate mediation models were calculated, one for manuals and one for non-manuals. Among manuals with constantly poor job quality, the risk of non-employment was increased through both poor mental and physical health. Deteriorating job quality increased this risk through poor mental health, while changing from manual to non-manual work reduced this risk through better physical health. Among non-manuals, poor job quality was not related to the risk of non-employment and no health effects were found to significantly mediate such a risk. In conclusion, the health risks of poor later-life job quality demand critical consideration to maintain employability, particularly of manual workers in poor quality jobs. Timely workplace improvements for certain groups are needed to increase employment participation in good health, thereby increasing efficiency and fairness of measures promoting longer working lives.