Citation

Stewart SD. Soc. Biol. 1997; 44(1-2): 153-158.

Affiliation

Department of Sociology, Bowling Green State University, Ohio 43403, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1997, Society for the Study of Social Biology)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9325660

Abstract

This study examined the impact of mortality by cause and age on labor force participation (LFP) among adults and youth in the US. Mortality data were obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics. LFP rates were obtained from work life estimates from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Worklife expectancy values for 1979-80 were used for the time periods 1970, 1979-80, and 1995. Deaths by cause and age were weighted. Findings indicate that 66% of all deaths due to heart disease, cancer, and stroke among all males in 1970, occurred among persons aged older than 65 years. 88% of men who died in motor vehicle accidents were aged under 65 years. The number of work years lost per death due to motor vehicle accidents increased somewhat for women and for men during 1970-80, and decreased for men and women aged under 30 years, by 1990. The number of work years lost to each of the 3 leading causes of death was slight for women. The proportion of female and male deaths due to the 3 leading causes increased over the 3 periods among women and men aged over 65 years. Women showed greater reductions in average number of work years lost due to the 3 chronic causes than men. More work years were lost due to AIDS deaths than motor vehicle accidents. Homicide had the greatest negative impact on years of productive worklife for women in 1990, followed by AIDS and then motor vehicle accidents. Motor vehicle accidents, homicide, and AIDS, which affect young people more, were fewer in number but caused greater loss of productive worklife, than the three chronic causes.

Language: en