The older worker is not so stressed

ANN ARBOR, Mich., Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Older U.S. workers generally report low levels of stress related to work, a nationally representative survey found.

University of Michigan Institute for Social Research researcher Gwenith Fisher and Quinnipiac University researcher Carrie Bulger and colleagues analyzed different kinds of job stressors reported in 2006 from 1,544 participants, between the ages of 53 and 85, in the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study. All participants worked at least 20 hours per week.

The study found 19 percent of older workers indicated they have poor job security. Fifty percent said competing demands were being made on them at work and 47 percent said time pressures are a source of job stress.

"In general, older workers did not report high levels of work-related stressors," Fisher said in a statement. "Given what we know about the extent of age discrimination at work and the current economic climate regarding unemployment, this is a surprisingly low number."

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America, in San Francisco.