Health and Labor Force Participation of Older Men: 1900-1991.

NBER Working Paper No.4929 November 1994 JEL Nos. J26, N31 Aging, Development of the American Economy, Health Economics, Labor Studies

I investigate how the relationship between health status and retirement among older men has changed since 1900, using weight adjusted for height, or Body Mass Index (BMI), as a proxy for health. I find that both in 1900 and again in 1985-91, the relative risk of labor force nonparticipation increases for the excessively lean and obese. The BMI level that minimizes the relative risk of labor force nonparticipation remains unchanged.

However, in 1900 both the relative risk of nonparticipation among men at low and high BMI levels, and the elasticity of nonparticipation with respect to BMI, were greater than today. This suggests that health is now less important to the retirement decision than it was in the...