Abstract

Introduction: Traumatic experiences, such as separation from parents in childhood causing early life stress (ELS) may increase the risk of adverse long-term health outcomes and biological age-related changes. This may have an impact on work career. Our aim was to examine long term consequences of ELS due to temporary separation from parents during World War II (WWII) in relation to work career.

Material and methods: The Helsinki Birth Cohort Study comprises 13,345 individuals born in Helsinki, Finland, between the years 1934–1944. From the original cohort, 1781 individuals were identified as being separated temporarily from their parents due to World War II. Information on date and type of pension was provided by the Finnish Centre for Pensions and the Social Insurance Institution of Finland. The cohort members either transitioned into old age pension at the statutory retirement age or retired earlier and transitioned into disability, unemployment, part-time pension or died before retirement.

Results: Those who were separated were more likely to have transitioned into disability pension (RRR: 1.26: 95% CI: 1.06–1.48), especially due to diseases of the musculoskeletal system (OR: 1.57; 95% CI: 1.20–2.07), or into unemployment pension (RRR: 1.25; 95% CI: 1.02–1.53) compared with those not separated from their parents. Longer duration of separation was associated with early exit from the workforce compared with non-separation.

Conclusions: Exposure to ELS may have an impact upon lifetime work career. Early interventions preventing exposure to ELS or mitigating its negative effects may prolong future work careers along with healthier aging across the life-span.