The transient’s key findings are:
- The employment charge for employees ages 51-64 with a incapacity is considerably above the pre-COVID stage.
- Almost all the employment acquire was in teleworkable jobs, even after accounting for different elements that may have an effect on work exercise.
- The provision of teleworkable jobs inspired some to reenter the labor power and others to change to distant jobs as an alternative of exiting the labor power.
- Whether or not these results will persist stays unclear, as distant work choices may decline because the labor market returns to extra regular situations.
Introduction
One facet of the pandemic that has continued is the elevated relevance of distant work. This shift may assist older individuals with disabilities, who would possibly in any other case discover it arduous to get or preserve jobs. Certainly, this group has a better employment charge post-pandemic than pre-pandemic.
Distant work, although, may not be the one issue contributing to this pattern. First, extra individuals report having a work-limiting impairment than earlier than the pandemic. If these new well being situations are comparatively gentle, then the rising prevalence of incapacity, by itself, may result in a better employment charge amongst this group. Second, the labor market has been extraordinarily tight in recent times, which may additionally assist increase employment charges amongst these with disabilities.
This transient, based mostly on a brand new examine, examines the extent to which distant work has contributed to the rising employment charge of older people with disabilities and which sorts of these employees – based mostly on their latest work historical past – have benefited essentially the most.1 The dialogue proceeds as follows. The primary part offers background on the rise of distant work, employment developments for older individuals with disabilities, and the 2 different elements that may very well be enjoying a task: the rising prevalence of incapacity and the tight labor market. The second part introduces the information and methodology for the evaluation. The third part presents the outcomes. The ultimate part concludes that distant work has elevated employment amongst older employees with disabilities by encouraging some to reenter the labor power and others to change to distant work as an alternative of exiting the labor power.
Background
A hanging characteristic of the pandemic was the sudden shift in direction of distant work, and distant work stays a fixture within the labor market (see Determine 1). For employees with disabilities, distant work lowers the mounted value of getting a job by lowering commuting bills, offering larger flexibility, and doubtlessly permitting them to entry the nationwide labor market.2 For employers, distant jobs can scale back the prices of hiring as a result of required lodging are already accessible within the employee’s dwelling.3
The notion that distant work could also be serving to older employees with disabilities keep within the labor power is supported by latest employment developments. Determine 2 exhibits that the employment charge for this group rebounded quickly after the pandemic, even rising above pre-pandemic ranges starting in late 2021.4
Two different post-pandemic developments, nevertheless, is also influencing employment. First, a better share of the working-age inhabitants now studies having a incapacity (see Determine 3). A lot of this enhance could be attributed to an increase in self-reported cognitive impairments. Prior research recommend that these new impairments could be instances of “brain fog,” a situation associated to lengthy COVID.5 If lengthy COVID is the explanation, it may end in a shift within the composition of individuals with disabilities to these with larger work capability and larger attachment to the labor power.6 But, as proven in Determine 3, this argument is much less related for older employees, because the rise in incapacity is concentrated amongst youthful employees (ages 18-50).
A second, extra convincing, issue is the bizarre tightness of the labor market in recent times, with the variety of job openings quickly outpacing the variety of unemployed job seekers (see Determine 4). In consequence, extra – and higher-paying – job alternatives have emerged for employees who historically face boundaries within the labor market.7 Within the case of employees with disabilities, employers could also be extra keen to supply lodging akin to extra versatile hours and extra frequent breaks.
Whereas labor market tightness seems extra prone to have an effect on employment charges amongst older employees with disabilities than the rising share of adults reporting a incapacity, the evaluation will think about each elements simply in case.
Information and Methodology
The evaluation relies on the 2012-2022 Well being and Retirement Examine (HRS), a biennial longitudinal survey of older households with wealthy info on employees’ well being and employment. We give attention to people ages 51-64 who report a work-limiting well being situation and don’t think about themselves totally retired.8
The evaluation then proceeds in three phases. The primary stage merely paperwork how the rising employment charge for older employees with disabilities breaks down by whether or not their occupation is amenable to distant work.9 If distant work has had an affect, then we’d count on the rise within the employment-to-population ratio of individuals in teleworkable jobs to be a lot bigger than the rise for these whose jobs should not amenable to distant work.
This straightforward comparability, nevertheless, doesn’t think about the potential results of different post-pandemic modifications. Therefore, the second stage estimates the chance of older individuals with disabilities being employed in teleworkable and non-teleworkable occupations, controlling for employee well being and the tight labor market, along with fundamental demographics, utilizing the next equation:10
Employment in teleworkable (nonteleworkable) jobs = f(well being, labor market tightness, demographics, yr 2022)
The yr 2022 variable captures the change in teleworkable (non-teleworkable) employment in 2022 in comparison with 2018 – the omitted reference yr. If distant work has an necessary impact on the employment charge – after accounting for employee well being and labor market tightness – then the coefficient on yr 2022 needs to be a lot bigger within the regression for teleworkable jobs than within the non-teleworkable regression.
The ultimate stage of the evaluation explores extra particularly how distant work helps older employees with disabilities keep within the labor power based mostly on their latest work historical past, together with their expertise with teleworkable jobs. Particularly, it asks two questions: 1) did distant work persuade these on the sidelines to reenter work, or did it assist those that have been already working to delay exiting the labor power? and a pair of) was the affect restricted to those that had prior expertise with distant work, or did all employees profit? To reply these questions, the regression evaluation outlined above is repeated for subgroups of older individuals with disabilities based mostly on whether or not they have labored up to now 4 years and whether or not they have had prior expertise in a teleworkable job.11
Outcomes
This part begins by analyzing how distant work improved general employment for older individuals with disabilities after which identifies which sorts of these employees noticed the best good points.
How Did Distant Work Have an effect on Older Individuals with Disabilities?
To begin off, the evaluation merely breaks down the rise within the employment charge by whether or not the employee’s occupation is teleworkable, with out controlling for incapacity severity or labor market tightness. In step with the CPS information in Determine 2, the rising employment in teleworkable occupations led to an 11.6-percent enhance within the employment-to-population ratio of older individuals with disabilities between 2018 and 2022, whereas non-teleworkable employment was just about unchanged (see grey bars in Determine 5).12
Shifting away from the uncooked comparisons, the regression outcomes present that distant work stays extraordinarily necessary even after controlling for incapacity severity and labor market tightness (see high pink bar in Determine 5).13 Certainly, the purpose estimates barely change from the essential comparability, suggesting that the 2 doubtlessly confounding elements have performed a much less necessary function in rising employment for older individuals with disabilities.14
Who Benefited the Most from Distant Work?
On condition that distant work has helped increase employment outcomes for older employees with disabilities, the subsequent query is whether or not a few of them benefited greater than others. Determine 6 compares the proportion change within the employment charge for teleworkable occupations throughout 4 totally different teams of older employees with disabilities. These teams are decided based mostly on two points of their latest work historical past. The primary facet is whether or not or not they have been employed within the final 4 years, whereas the second is whether or not or not they’d prior expertise in teleworkable jobs.
To know the story, take every end in flip. The primary group – those that haven’t labored up to now 4 years and haven’t any expertise in teleworkable jobs – noticed no enchancment: they stayed out of labor. In distinction, the second group – who do have expertise in teleworkable jobs – noticed a big enhance in employment, indicating that they have been higher ready to reenter work as distant jobs surged. The third group is probably most fascinating. Staff on this group have been employed just lately and, regardless of their lack of familiarity with telework, have been in a position to transfer into these jobs fairly than exiting the labor power due to their incapacity. Lastly, the fourth group – just lately working in teleworkable jobs – noticed much less profit from the shift to distant work, maybe as a result of they’d already obtained employer lodging previous to the pandemic, together with the power to telework.
Conclusion
The shift to distant work that began throughout COVID and has continued could have improved job prospects for older individuals with disabilities by lowering boundaries to employment. In step with this view, this transient finds that just about all the post-pandemic employment acquire for older individuals with disabilities has been in teleworkable occupations, and this sample holds even after controlling for different elements. Distant work advantages older employees with disabilities by permitting some to reenter the labor power and others to change jobs as an alternative of exiting work.
But, the extent to which these dynamics will persist over the long term stays an open query. This evaluation covers a interval when distant work was significantly widespread. The provision of distant work could decline because the labor market eases again towards extra regular situations. And, the extent to which older employees with disabilities want or need to work may additionally decline because the affect of surprising pandemic-era situations – together with the non permanent closure of Social Safety subject places of work – subsides. Therefore, how distant work impacts older individuals with disabilities ought to stay a subject of curiosity.
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