NILS Working paper no 169. Work-related health in Europe: are older workers more at risk?

This paper uses the fourth European Working Conditions Survey (2005) to address the impact of age on work-related self-reported health outcomes. More specifically, the paper examines whether older workers differ significantly from younger workers regarding their job-related health risk perception, mental and physical health, sickness absence, probability of reporting injury and fatigue. Accounting for the healthy worker effect, or sample selection, in so far as unhealthy workers are likely to exit the labour force, we find that as a group, those aged 55-65 years are more vulnerable than younger workers: they are more likely to perceive work-related health and safety risks, and to report mental, physical and fatigue health problems. As previously shown, older workers are more likely to report work-related absence.