Worklife by Occupation Physical Requirements: A Three-State Model

Abstract

Do workers in more physically demanding jobs have different worklives than those in more sedentary occupations? To answer this question, we link individual data from the Current Population Survey with occupation characteristics from the Occupational Information Network to categorize individuals into three mutually exclusive initial labor market states: inactive, or active in either a more or less physically demanding occupation. A three-state Markov model estimates worklives given transitions across states over time. There is not a significant difference in worklives between the two occupation groups, even when controlling for sex, age and education. Men and women initially in more physically demanding occupations can be expected to work just as long as their counterparts initially in less physically demanding occupations.