Health and Labor Force Participation

Abstract

Models are estimated to analyze the influence of health on labor force participation. It was found that the participation of blacks is more likely to be reduced by health factors than that of whites; that the primary importance of education derives from its association with skills and ability rather than health. Public transfer payments influence but do not control participation of nonseverely disabled workers. Including health measures can increase the explanatory power of labor force models. Better information on health of workers would allow separation of the cost of disability into those reducible through delivery of health care and those more appropriately dealt with through labor market policies.