Because work injury experience differs between different types of workers, demographic changes are important to workers compensation. This paper highlights current and projected demographic patterns in employment, as well as data on injury frequency and time away from work.
Key Takeaways
- The US labor force age 65 and older is expected to grow by more than 50% in the next 10 years, making it 10% of the total labor force
- Injury frequency has increased for four consecutive years for workers age 65 and older, even as injury frequency’s long-run decline has continued overall, especially for workers age 25-44
- Older workers tend to have more days away from work given an injury, both within and across injury types
- Women’s employment is growing faster than men’s employment at younger ages, but men’s employment is growing faster than women’s at older ages
- Employment rose more for college graduates than other education groups before the pandemic and has fallen less for college graduates since the beginning of the pandemic
- Women and the workers under age 25 experienced larger employment declines at the height of the pandemic than other demographic groups
- There may be long-run demographic changes in employment caused by the pandemic, especially for women, even though employment differentials for demographic groups partially converged after the initial impact in April 2020
Hear more from the author, Patrick Coate, on the findings of the paper and the potential impact on workers compensation.
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