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Objectives: We investigated factors associated with job retention after developing a visual impairment in late middle adulthood. Methods: Using longitudinal survey data from the Health and Retirement Study, we identified respondents who first reported poor eyesight or legal blindness at age 44-64 years in Waves 3-14 and who were employed in the previous wave. We conducted a multiple logistic regression analysis with job retention as the dependent variable and health and socioeconomic characteristics as independent variables. Results: Women, people who were married or partnered, and people with fair or better self-reported health were more likely to retain employment after vision loss, whereas people with more chronic health conditions were less likely to retain employment. Discussion: Poor health and chronic health conditions may prompt late middle-aged adults to leave the labor force after developing vision loss. Timely vocational rehabilitation services can help employed people with vision loss retain employment.
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BACKGROUND: Vision loss increases with age and is thus more likely to happen later in one's career. With more individuals working beyond typical retirement age, the possibility of experiencing vision loss while working has increased. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate how developing vision loss during midlife affects employment and retirement. METHOD: Using longitudinal Health and Retirement Study data, we identified a sample of 167 workers, 44 to 64 years old, who developed vision loss and a matched comparison sample of 800 workers who did not. We explored job retention and retirement differences between the groups and differences between people with vision loss who retained jobs versus those who did not. RESULTS: Vision loss was associated with leaving the labor force, although there was a clear trend over time of increasing likelihood of job retention. Occupational category was associated with job retention and people who continued working had more favorable financial situations. Retirees with vision loss were more likely to report involuntary retirement and dissatisfaction with retirement. CONCLUSIONS: The decreasing likelihood of leaving the labor market after vision loss is an encouraging finding of this study. Workers who left the labor force after vision loss were more likely to be in precarious financial positions, and retirees did not have positive experiences with retirement. Assisting workers with vision loss to remain in the labor force is of vital importance, and increasing awareness and usage of free services for this population may reduce involuntary retirement and its negative consequences.
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BACKGROUND: College graduates without visual impairments earn more than college graduates with visual impairments. Differences in degree majors obtained or differences in earnings associated with degree majors for the two groups might explain this discrepancy in earnings. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine (a) differences in degree major categories and (b) relationships between degree majors and earnings for college graduates with and without visual impairments. METHOD: We obtained data for college-educated, working-age adults from the American Community Survey. We utilized descriptive statistics to compare degree major categories by visual impairment and multiple regression to evaluate predictors of annual earnings for college graduates who worked full-time/full-year. RESULTS: Small differences in degree majors obtained were found between college graduates with and without visual impairments. Significant predictors of earnings included 23 out of 25 degree majors and several other demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. Effects of three majors and several other variables differed for people with visual impairments. CONCLUSION: People with visual impairments were slightly more likely to hold degrees with lower-paying majors and less likely to hold degrees with two higher-paying majors. Regardless of degree major, college graduates with visual impairments had substantially lower average earnings than the general population.
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PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE: Individuals with visual impairments, including transition-age youth, have much lower employment rates than their peers without disabilities. We conducted a systematic review to examine the factors that predict employment in American youth with visual impairments. Research/Method: We used a three-pronged approach to identify articles via databases search, hand search, and ancestral search. We then coded all articles for study and sample characteristics, study outcomes, and study quality. RESULTS: Ten studies met inclusion criteria, nine of which reported secondary analysis of existing datasets. Previous work experience and postsecondary education were consistently significant positive predictors of employment across studies, with previous, self-initiated work experience being the strongest predictor. There is also some evidence for the importance of transportation and travel skills in obtaining employment. Conversely, demographic and disability characteristics generally were not significant predictors of employment. CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: These results highlight the need to teach vocational skills, particularly job search skills, to youth with visual impairments and to support their completion of postsecondary education. Because most studies involved secondary analysis of older datasets, and five relied on the same dataset, additional research should be conducted using novel and current datasets in order to replicate and expand on these findings. Research is also needed to identify factors associated with completion of postsecondary education for youth with visual impairments as well as interventions that lead to positive postsecondary educational and employment outcomes. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).
