Late life job displacement

Abstract

Data from the 1992 wave of the Health and Retirement Study are used to examine the incidence of job displacement among workers ages 51 through 60. The average displaced worker experiences a loss in earnings of 39%. Households which contain a displaced worker have incomes 24% lower than the household of an average worker. Little of these lost earnings are replaced through pension income. The rate of health insurance coverage is 16% lower among displaced workers. As with other labor market outcomes, non-Whites on average are the most economically vulnerable following displacement.