WASHINGTON — Raising the retirement age could help buttress the financial solvency of the Social Security retirement fund but would cause serious hardships among blue-collar workers, the General Accounting Office will warn in a report to be issued today.
Even for those older workers who are healthy, the chances of keeping a job well into their 60s could be problematic, according to the GAO, the investigative arm of the Congress.
Many of the proposals now being offered in Congress for the future of Social Security include provisions that would make workers wait longer before they collect benefits. Advocates point out that each new generation of workers is healthier and has a greater life expectancy.
However, the GAO analysis says that millions of Americans, particularly those in blue-collar occupations, have physically demanding jobs and are more likely to suffer from health problems than workers in white-collar jobs.
For these workers, a delayed retirement age could be a hardship, forcing them to work despite the discomfort and pain of health problems that worsen with age. Some of them might have to apply for disability benefits, which would drive up the cost of that program for the federal government.
"Blue-collar workers are more likely to have musculoskeletal problems, respiratory diseases, diabetes and emotional disorders than are white-collar workers," the GAO said in its report. "For example, blue-collar workers are 58% more likely to have arthritis, 42% more likely to have chronic lung diseases and 25% more likely to have emotional disorders," the report said.
And for older workers who are "willing and able to extend their careers . . . it is unclear whether employers will be willing to retain or hire them because of negative perceptions about costs and productivity," the GAO said.
A copy of the report, which will be presented at a hearing today of the Senate's Special Committee on Aging, was obtained by The Times.
Under current law, workers can collect full retirement benefits at age 65. They also can take early retirement at 62, receiving 80% of the full benefit. For those retiring after 62, the pension amount increases in steps each year to 100% of benefits at 65. A majority of workers (53%) now begin drawing benefits at 62.
The retirement age for full benefits is now scheduled to rise in stages, beginning in the year 2000, until it reaches 67 for those born in 1960 or later. And for those who take early retirement at 62, the benefit will be reduced to 70% of the full retirement package.
