Executive Summary of Report ,i

Amendments of 1983, it mandated a study of the implications for workers in physically demanding jobs and/or ill health of the increase in the age at which full social .security benefits are payable. The report to Congress is reprinted here verbatim. The analysis shows that fewer older workers than today-7-9 percent by 2020, compared with 11.4 percent in 1982-are expected to be in jobs with .,... heavy strength requirements. It is unclear whether fewer than the '16.3 percent who now say they are unable to work .tiill be unable to work in the future. Thus, it appears that there will be some decline-but not a dramatic decline-relative to today in the proportion of retirement-age workers who could find it difficult to extend their work lives. a year or two in response to the increase in the age at which full social security retired-worker Technical appendices describing the data bases and techniques used to derive the estimates in the rewrt as well as backaround pauers commissioned as part of the study are available from-the Publications Staff, benefits are payable. If workers do not delay retirement and if there are no offsetting increases in other income' sources, it appears that the average reduction in totalincome at retirement for workers in physically demanding jobs and/or ill health will be on the order of 6-7 percent 'when the new retirement age is fully phased in in 2027.