Table 4.
Sociodemographic, Behavioral, and Health-Related Characteristics of 11,958 Participants at the Time of the First Interview by EQ Trajectory, Health and Retirement Study 1992–2016
| EQ Trajectory | TOTAL | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wealthy Business Owners (N = 683) |
Independent Contractors/Gig workers (N = 477) |
Great EQ to Well-off Retirement (N = 1,329) |
Good EQ to Well-off Retirement (N = 1,519) |
Fair EQ to Good but Diminishing Wealth in Retirement (N = 1,494) |
Poor EQ to Delayed and Poor Retirement (N = 758) |
Minimally Attached and Returning (N = 1,387) |
Workers with Premature Mortality (N = 1,151) |
Minimally Attached and Wealthy (N = 1,643) |
Unattached and Poor (N = 1,517) |
||
| % or mean (SE) | |||||||||||
| Gender | |||||||||||
| Men | 76.4% | 56.5% | 70.3% | 52.8% | 46.9% | 36.1% | 38.6% | 61.4% | 38.2% | 40.3% | 51.1% |
| Women | 23.7% | 43.5% | 29.7% | 47.2% | 53.1% | 63.9% | 61.4% | 38.6% | 61.8% | 59.7% | 48.9% |
| Race/ethnicity | |||||||||||
| NH White | 92.1% | 78.7% | 86.8% | 79.2% | 78.4% | 76.9% | 74.7% | 73.0% | 92.8% | 55.1% | 79.0% |
| NH Black | 2.2% | 9.3% | 8.2% | 11.5% | 11.7% | 9.3% | 12.2% | 18.3% | 3.5% | 22.5% | 11.1% |
| Hispanic | 2.8% | 5.6% | 2.5% | 4.8% | 5.8% | 8.7% | 7.6% | 4.5% | 1.9% | 12.9% | 5.5% |
| Mixed/other | 2.9% | 6.4% | 2.5% | 4.6% | 4.1% | 5.2% | 5.6% | 4.2% | 1.8% | 9.5% | 4.5% |
| U.S.-Born | 91.1% | 88.5% | 94.1% | 92.2% | 91.8% | 88.5% | 89.7% | 94.8% | 92.3% | 82.8% | 90.9% |
| Married/partnered | 85.5% | 73.6% | 80.7% | 74.4% | 75.9% | 73.0% | 72.4% | 63.1% | 88.6% | 66.2% | 75.9% |
| Region of residence | |||||||||||
| Northeast | 15.8% | 14.1% | 20.0% | 19.6% | 18.7% | 21.0% | 18.5% | 19.5% | 20.7% | 17.7% | 18.9% |
| Midwest | 30.0% | 17.5% | 27.5% | 23.9% | 26.9% | 24.4% | 24.1% | 25.0% | 26.0% | 15.8% | 24.4% |
| South | 29.9% | 41.9% | 34.0% | 37.1% | 41.9% | 33.7% | 40.2% | 40.3% | 31.0% | 50.5% | 38.0% |
| West | 24.3% | 26.5% | 18.6% | 19.4% | 12.5% | 20.9% | 17.3% | 15.3% | 22.3% | 15.9% | 18.7% |
| Age (years) | 55.8 (0.2) | 55.6 (0.2) | 55.4 (0.1) | 55.2 (0.1) | 54.7 (0.1) | 54.7 (0.2) | 56.2 (0.1) | 54.8 (0.1) | 57.8 (0.1) | 58.8 (0.2) | 56.0 (0.06) |
| Birth cohort | |||||||||||
| Original HRS cohort (1932–1941) | 64.0% | 61.5% | 54.3% | 62.5% | 68.8% | 69.1% | 73.3% | 63.3% | 78.4% | 69.0% | 66.7% |
| War babies (1942–1946) | 36.0% | 38.5% | 45.7% | 37.5% | 31.2% | 31.0% | 26.8% | 36.7% | 21.6% | 31.0% | 33.3% |
| Education (years) | 13.9 (0.1) | 12.8 (0.2) | 14.2 (0.1) | 13.1 (0.8) | 12.3 (0.1) | 12.3 (0.2) | 11.8 (0.1) | 11.7 (0.1) | 13.0 (0.1) | 10.0 (0.2) | 12.5 (0.1) |
| Low childhood SES | 26.0% | 30.2% | 25.7% | 31.2% | 28.1% | 29.4% | 32.0% | 35.6% | 27.8% | 41.9% | 30.7% |
| Dad’s education (years) | 10.6 (0.2) | 9.7 (0.3) | 10.4 (0.1) | 9.6 (0.1) | 9.4 (0.1) | 9.1 (0.2) | 8.8 (0.2) | 8.4 (0.2) | 9.9 (0.1) | 7.2 (0.2) | 9.4 (0.1) |
| Mom’s education (years) | 11.0 (0.1) | 9.9 (0.2) | 10.7 (0.1) | 10.1 (0.1) | 9.5 (0.2) | 9.7 (0.2) | 9.2 (0.1) | 9.1 (0.2) | 10.2 (0.1) | 7.8 (0.2) | 9.7 (0.1) |
| Childhood Health | |||||||||||
| Good/very good/excellent | 96.7% | 92.5% | 96.0% | 95.6% | 93.3% | 94.4% | 93.6% | 90.7% | 93.6% | 86.1% | 93.4% |
| Fair/poor | 3.2% | 7.5% | 3.9% | 4.4% | 6.7% | 5.4% | 6.2% | 9.3% | 6.2% | 13.7% | 6.7% |
| Self-reported health & behaviors at baseline | |||||||||||
| Smoking status | |||||||||||
| Never | 41.4% | 39.4% | 39.4% | 40.7% | 36.7% | 35.5% | 33.6% | 19.4% | 37.7% | 34.7% | 36.0% |
| Former | 41.4% | 36.6% | 43.3% | 37.4% | 34.7% | 34.9% | 35.5% | 32.0% | 41.7% | 31.6% | 37.2% |
| Current | 17.2% | 24.1% | 17.3% | 21.9% | 28.6% | 29.6% | 30.9% | 48.6% | 20.6% | 33.8% | 26.8% |
| Alcohol Use | |||||||||||
| Never | 25.0% | 45.5% | 26.7% | 34.4% | 35.4% | 37.5% | 43.7% | 42.7% | 31.9% | 58.0% | 37.7% |
| Not heavy | 22.5% | 15.4% | 27.4% | 19.5% | 15.7% | 17.5% | 12.5% | 16.2% | 13.7% | 16.0% | 17.7% |
| Heavy | 52.5% | 39.2% | 45.9% | 46.1% | 49.0% | 45.1% | 43.8% | 41.1% | 54.5% | 26.0% | 44.6% |
| Depressiona | |||||||||||
| No | 88.7% | 84.0% | 88.7% | 84.4% | 81.5% | 79.1% | 75.3% | 68.1% | 80.6% | 59.1% | 78.8% |
| Yes | 11.3% | 16.0% | 11.3% | 15.6% | 18.5% | 20.9% | 24.7% | 31.9% | 19.4% | 40.9% | 21.2% |
| Self-Rated Health | |||||||||||
| Good/very good/excellent | 92.9% | 84.8% | 93.0% | 90.7% | 87.5% | 85.2% | 75.8% | 51.5% | 79.3% | 44.0% | 78.2% |
| Fair/poor | 7.1% | 15.2% | 7.0% | 9.3% | 12.5% | 14.8% | 24.2% | 48.5% | 20.7% | 56.0% | 21.8% |
Note. EQ = Employment Quality; SES = Socioeconomic Status; SE = Standard Error. Percentages, means, and standard errors are calculated by accounting for survey weights, strata, and clusters.
a≥4 on the brief revised Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale.