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Later-Life Career Disruption and Self-Rated Health: An Analysis of General Social Survey Data*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2010

Y.H. He ,
A. Colantonio  and
V.W. Marshall
Y.H. He*
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
A. Colantonio
Affiliation:
University of Toronto
V.W. Marshall
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
*
Requests for offprints should be sent to: / Les demandes de tirés-a-part doivent être adressées à: Dr. Helen He, Biostatistics Program, Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Toronto. [email protected]
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Abstract

The transition from employment to retirement is changing dramatically in Canada and other industrialized societies, with a decreasing proportion of working life being spent in stable career progression. This study used a sample of 2,592 subjects, aged 45 to 64, from the 1994 General Social Survey of Canada (GSS): Cycle 9, to describe situations of later-life career disruption (LLCD) in older workers in Canada and to investigate the association between LLCD and self-rated health. Results showed that a large proportion of older Canadian workers had experienced such LLCD as job interruption and job loss. Experience of job loss and job interruption over the prior 5-year period was found to be significantly associated with poor self-rated health, after controlling for age, education, body mass index, and activity limitation. However, after excluding respondents whose LLCD was known to be due to poor health, job interruption and job loss were separately found not to be significantly associated with poor health. The complexity of the findings and the direction of causation between LLCD and self-rated health, as well as some methodology issues, are discussed. Areas of future research are indicated.

Résumé

Le passage d'un état d'emploi à un de retraite se modifie considérablement au Canada et dans d'autres sociétés industrialisées. Il y a une proportion décroissante de la vie sur le marché du travail consacrée à une progression stable de carrière. Cette recherche a étudié un échantillonnage de 2 592 sujets, âgés de 45 à 64 ans, tirés de L'Enquête sociale générale du Canada (ESG): Cycle 9, pour dépeindre des situations de rupture de carrière durant la vie avancée des travailleurs âgés au Canada. De plus, l'étude cherchait à examiner le lien entre la rupture de carrière durant la vie avancée et l'auto-évaluation de la santé. Les résultats démontrent qu'une proportion importante de travailleurs canadiens âgés ont vécu une telle rupture de carrière durant la vie avancée (par exemple une interruption d'emploi ou la perte d'un emploi). L'expérience de perte d'emploi et d'interruption d'emploi dans les cinq dernières années, a été fortement liée à la mauvaise auto-évaluation de la santé, une fois que l'on contrôle l'âge, la formation, l'index de la masse du corps et les limites des activités. Toutefois, lorsque l'on écarte les interrogés ayant des ruptures de carrière durant la vie avancée liées à une mauvaise santé, l'on retrouve que l'interruption d'emploi et la perte d'emploi ne sont pas associées à une mauvaise santé. L'étude examine la complexité des résultats et la direction du rapport cause à effet entre la rupture de carrière durant la vie avancée et l'auto-évaluation de la santé, de même que quelques questions de méthodologies. De plus, l'étude propose des recherches supplémentaires dans certains domaines.

Keywords

aginglater-life career disruptionself-rated healtholder workersGeneral Social Survey of Canadavieillissementrupture de carrière durant la vie avancéeauto-évaluation de la santétravailleurs âgésL'Enquête sociale générale du Canada
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , Spring/Printemps 2003 , pp. 45 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2003

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Footnotes

*

This research was supported by a grant from the National Health Research Development Program (Health Canada, #6606–6496–96, V.W. Marshall, Principal Investigator), and by an Ontario Graduate Scholarship to the first author.

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