Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Mortality and morbidity after retirement. ( Answered 4 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: Mortality and morbidity after retirement.
Category: Science > Social Sciences
Asked by: soctiestudent-ga
List Price: $25.00
Posted: 08 Aug 2003 08:48 PDT
Expires: 07 Sep 2003 08:48 PDT
Question ID: 241424
I need to know the life expectancy after retirement of men and women
and also the number of years of reasonably active life.  This is a
double question: (a) life expectancy after retirement; (b)
handicap-free years after retirement.  The second is probably best
answered by subjective assessment.  I'll need a citable source as
well.

A possible source is: Crimmins, Eileen M., Mark D. Hayward, and
Yasuhiko Saito, "Changing mortality and morbidity rates and the health
status and life expectancy of the older population."  Demography 31
(1994) pp. 119-175.  My reading of the abstract of that paper makes me
uncertain that it contains the information I need but maybe it can
lead to papers that do.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Mortality and morbidity after retirement.
Answered By: bobbie7-ga on 08 Aug 2003 12:19 PDT
Rated:4 out of 5 stars
 
Hello soctiestudent, 


Life Expectancy

“Life expectancy is the average number of years of life remaining to a
person at a particular age and is based on a given set of age-specific
death rates, generally the mortality conditions existing in the period
mentioned. Life expectancy may be determined by race, sex, or other
characteristics using age-specific death rates for the population with
that characteristic.”

SOURCE: Health, United States
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/datawh/nchsdefs/lifeexpectancy.htm



Life Expectancy

Life Expectancy at Age 65:         17.9 years 

Males Life Expectancy at age 65:   16.3 years 

Females Life Expectancy at age 65: 19.2 years 

You may view life expectancy by other ages at the following link on
page 7, 9 and 11.

Source: National Vital Statistics Reports, Vol. 51, No. 3

National Center for Health Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr51/nvsr51_03.pdf



================================================


Healthy People 2010, Statistical Notes, Number 21 (August 2001)

Summary Measures of Population Health: Methods for Calculating Healthy
Life Expectancy

Michael T. Molla, Ph.D.; Diane K. Wagener, Ph.D.; and Jennifer H.
Madans, Ph.D.

“Summary measures of population health are statistics that combine
mortality and morbidity to represent overall population health in a
single number—in this report, health expectancy measures. This report
presents a comprehensive discussion of the methods for calculation and
methodologic issues related to the interpretation of healthy life
expectancy. These measures combine both mortality and morbidity using
an abridged life-table procedure.”


Healthy Life expectancy for Males

60–64 years  14.3    healthy life expectancy years 
65–69 years  11.4    healthy life expectancy years


Healthy Life expectancy for Females

60–64 years  17    healthy life expectancy years 
65–69 years  13.8  healthy life expectancy years

Source: National Center for Health Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statnt/statnt21.pdf


================================================


The World Health Report 2001 provides healthy life expectancy by
country. Healthy life expectancy (HALE) is based on life expectancy
(LEX), but includes an adjustment for time spent in poor health.

United States: Healthy life expectancy (years)
Male at age 60      14.9 years
Female at age 60   16.6 years

http://www3.who.int/whosis/hale/hale.cfm?path=whosis,hale&language=english


=============================================
Additional information that may interest you:
=============================================


Summary Measures of Population Health: Addressing the First Goal of
Healthy People
2010, Improving Health Expectancy

Diane K. Wagener, Ph.D.; Michael T. Molla, Ph.D.; Eileen M. Crimmins,
Ph.D.; Elsie Pamuk, Ph.D.;and Jennifer H. Madans, Ph.D.

“Health expectancy is often interpreted as the number of years an
average person is expected to live in good health. Because populations
usually have less than good health, the number of expected healthy
years is less than expected life years.”

“Using age-specific mortality and activity limitation, the health
expectancy statistic (expected years free of activity limitation) can
be calculated utilizing life table
procedures”

Source: National Center for Health Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statnt/statnt22.pdf

================================================
An abstract from a Morbidity and Mortality Report
“Increases in life expectancy in the United States are accompanied by
concerns regarding the cumulative impact of chronic disease and
impairments on the prevalence of disability and the health status and
quality of life of the growing number of older adults (defined as
persons aged greater than or equal to 65 years). (..)  This report
examines three dimensions of health status: sensory impairments,
activity limitations, and health-related quality of life among older
adults.”

You made read the full report here:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss4808a6.htm


================================================


“Retirement is tough for cops. Their average life expectancy after
retirement is five years, according to '91 FBI statistics.
Psychotherapist and former police officer Albert Seng says a number of
cops go through a grief process in disconnecting from "a lifestyle
rather than a job." Once you're out of it, you're really out of it.
You're on the outside.”

Tucson Weekly
http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/02-23-95/cover.htm


================================================
Longevity Vs. Retirement Age 
“Dr. Ephrem  (Siao Chung) Cheng provided the important results in the
following table from an actuarial study of life span vs. age at
retirement. The study was based on the number of pension checks sent
to retirees of Boeing Aerospace.“

Age at Retirement     Average Age at Death 
49.9                           86.0 
51.2                           85.3 
52.5                           84.6 
53.8                           83.9 
55.1                           83.2 
56.4                           82.5 
57.2                           81.4 
58.3                           80.0 
59.2                           78.5 
60.1                           76.8 
61.0                           74.5 
62.1                           71.8 
63.1                           69.3 
64.1                           67.9 
65.2                           66.8

“This indicates that for people retired at the age of 50, their
average life span is 86; whereas for people retired at the age of 65,
their average life span is only 66.8. An important conclusion from
this study is that for every year one works beyond age 55, one loses 2
years of life span on average.”
http://www.seeya-downtheroad.com/InformationPage/WhyRetireYoung.html


================================================

Graph: Life expectancy by sex at age 65
http://www.paho.org/Spanish/HDP/HDR/6

================================================

Average retirement age of American men
http://www.paho.org/Spanish/HDP/HDR/27


================================================


Search Criteria:

Life expectancy tables
Expectation of life after retirement
Independent OR active 
Life after retirement
Remaining years after 65 years of age
Average independent OR active life expectancy after retirement
disability free life expectancy
National Institute on Aging
American Association of Retired Persons
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Disability-free life expectancy
Life span vs. age at retirement
AGE OF RETIREMENT VS LENGTH OF LIFE
Disability-adjusted life expectancy of Americans at retirement


I hope this information helps you in your research. If anything is
unclear or if a link does not function, please let me know and I'll be
glad to offer further assistance.

Bobbie7

Request for Answer Clarification by soctiestudent-ga on 08 Aug 2003 14:09 PDT
Thanks, the material you've provided is useful.

Because people retire at different ages -- right now average age at
retirement is said to be 62 -- life expectancy in retirement is tough
to calculate from an age-specific table.  Is it possible to find
information on how many years people can expect after electing
retirement?

One of the reasons for retirement is poor health.  That would make any
estimate of life expectancy in retirement an underestimate for
retirees in good health.  I don't expect information on this one, but
it would be good to have the years-of-life-in-retirement figure as a
way of setting a lower bound for what can be expected by healthy
retirees.

You give healthy life expectancy at age 60 and life expectancy at age
65.  Could you give the healthy life expectancy at age 65?  Or, if
this isn't possible, the life expectancy at age 60.  I need the two
figures for the same age in order to estimate the proportion of
remaining years that will be healthy.

If it isn't tough, could you give the NCHS operational definition for
"good health"?

Thank you for sending along the reports on Tuscon cops and Boeing
workers.  The cops story strikes me as an unlikely statistic -- cops
generally retire early and not often becauses of disability.  The
Cheng story is even less likely.  It would make an interesting
exercise for a class in statistics: "How can you explain this?"  It is
certainly not the case that later retirement (age 66 isn't even all
that late) cause quicker death.

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 08 Aug 2003 15:01 PDT
Soctiestudent.

I'm glad that you found that the material I provided isuseful.


Here is the information that you requested:

Life expectancy at age 60
Male          19.9 years
Female        24 years
Source: National Center for Health Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr51/nvsr51_03.pdf



The definition of health: ‘‘a state of complete physical, mental and
social well-being.’’

Source: National Center for Health Statistics
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/statnt/statnt21.pdf

I hope this helps!

Best wishes,
Bobbie7

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 08 Aug 2003 15:30 PDT
Factors Influencing Retirement: Principal Findings
Source: Urban Institute
http://www.urban.org/socsecurity/retire_factors.html

Executive Summary

“The comparisons by health status in this study reveal that retirees
are in poorer health than workers of the same age and are more likely
to have a condition that limits or prevents work. In addition, the
findings suggest that workers in physically demanding jobs retire
earlier than those in less physically demanding jobs.”

(..)

“The reason given for labor force departure varies by age: the younger
a worker when leaving a job, the more likely it is that the departure
is involuntary, whether the result of job loss or poor health. Only
one-quarter of workers leaving a job between ages 55 and 61 retire
voluntarily, compared to over one-half of those leaving a job at or
after age 62.”

“Factors that are significantly related to retirement among men
include: being aged 61 to 64; having three or more functional
limitations; working in agriculture, mining, construction, or
transportation industries; working fewer than 20 hours per week;
having pension coverage; and having 13 or more years of education. For
women, these factors include being age 65, having three or more
functional limitations, and working in a physically demanding
occupation. Several factors are correlated with delayed retirement.
For instance, both men and women are much less likely to retire if
they have health insurance coverage from their employer. They are also
much less likely to retire if they have a spouse who is working.”

(..)

“Although retirees, especially early retirees, are in worse health
than workers, the majority of retirees are also in good health and do
not have any functional limitations or conditions that limit work. On
the other hand, a large minority do.”

You may download the complete document here:
http://www.urban.org/socsecurity/retire_factors.pdf



Anticipating Life in Retirement: Key Findings 

“Respondents generally anticipate being retired for many years. Most
of those who have not yet retired expect they will do so either some
time in their early 60s or sooner (43%) or their late 60s (30%). Among
those who are retired, the average age of retirement was 59. In fact,
41 percent of retired respondents say their retirement came earlier
than they had anticipated.”

“At the same time, more than three-quarters of all respondents believe
they are likely to live to at least age 75 (79%), and 4 in 10 say it
is at least somewhat likely they will live to age 85. One in four
believes they are likely to live to 90 (23%), while 15 percent expect
to live up to 95 years old. This means that a typical worker (with an
average age at retirement of 62) can expect to spend more than 20
years living in retirement. The typical retiree has already been
retired for an average of 12 years, and expects to live another 10 to
15 years. “

http://www.asec.org/mga_sur.htm

Abstract: Factors Affecting Retirement Mortality (FARM)
http://www.soa.org/sections/farm/farm_abstract.html

Factors Affecting Retirement Mortality (FARM)
Table of Summaries
http://www.soa.org/sections/farm/matrix_a-h.html

Request for Answer Clarification by soctiestudent-ga on 08 Aug 2003 17:58 PDT
That's terrific.  I haven't worked it through yet but it looks like
just what I need.

Thank you.

Clarification of Answer by bobbie7-ga on 08 Aug 2003 18:18 PDT
You're welcome. I'm glad to have helped!
Bobbie7
soctiestudent-ga rated this answer:4 out of 5 stars

Comments  
There are no comments at this time.

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy