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Title: Occupational Status and Health Transitions

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2011

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Abstract: We use longitudinal data from the 1984 through 2007 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine how occupational status is related to the health transitions of 30 to 59 year-old U.S. males. A recent history of blue-collar employment predicts a substantial increase in the probability of transitioning from very good into bad self-assessed health, relative to white-collar employment, but with no evidence of occupational differences in movementsfrom bad to very good health. These findings are robust to a series of sensitivity analyses. The results suggest that blue-collar workers wear out faster with age because they are more likely, than their white-collar counterparts, to experience negative health shocks. This partly reflectsdifferences in the physical demands of blue-collar and white-collar jobs.

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Authors: Ruhm, Christopher J.; Morefield, G.B.; Ribar, David C.

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Institution: University of North Carolina-Greensboro

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Data Collections: IPUMS USA

Topics: Health, Labor Force and Occupational Structure

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