Socioeconomic Inequalities and Smoking-Related Differences in Healthy Working Life Expectancy: An Examination Using U.S. Population-based Estimates from the Health and Retirement Study at Age 50

Many governments worldwide are raising retirement ages due to aging populations, but this may have implications for both social and health outcomes. Health and work are influenced by socioeconomic factors. Using U.S. Health and Retirement Study data, employing a multistate lifetable approach to model individual life courses, we examine disparities in healthy working life expectancy concerning race/ethnicity, education, and smoking habits at ages 50+. Findings reveal healthy working life expectancy disparities linked to socioeconomic factors and smoking behaviour, with men and non-smokers having longer healthy working life expectancy. The largest smoking differential is observed among American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, and individuals of other ethnicities, and Black Americans report the overall shortest healthy working life expectancy. Lower educated individuals report 1.2–1.5 years shorter healthy working life expectancy than higher educated. Addressing socioeconomic inequalities in healthy working life expectancy and promoting non-smoking habits are crucial for the sustainability of the workforce.