Gender and Racial Disparities in Physical Job Demands of Older Workers
RELAB POLICY NOTE
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Policy proposals to cut Social Security benefits by increasing the normal retirement age from 67 to as high as 76 ignore the persistent physical demands older workers face.
Between 1992 and 2014, workers ages 55 to 62 saw little decrease in physical demands at work. While older men and older white workers were the beneficiaries of slight declines in physical demands on the job, older women experienced an increase in comparison to older men while older black workers continued to fall behind older white workers.