GAO Reports Older Adults Who Misuse Opioids Less Likely to Be Employed
A report released this week by the Government Accountability Office provides a detailed explanation of the relationship between labor force participation and substance use.
The nearly 40-page report analyzes data collected from 2015-2019 from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s National Survey on Drug Use and Health data. The report incorporates interviews from workforce agencies and Health and Human Services officials regarding the experiences of older adults, aged 50 and up, who reported misusing opioids.
Older adults who reported misusing opioids were more likely to be unemployed or experience work instability, according to the report.
The report also showed higher percentages of opioid misuse in unmarried males without a college degree.
GAO estimates put older adults who misused opioids at 22% less likely to participate in the labor force, and older adults in the labor force who misused opioids were 40% less likely to be employed.
Employed older workers who misused opioids were twice as likely to have experienced periods of unemployment.
In 2017, HHS declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency.
In 2018, Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, Bob Casey Jr., D-Pa., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., sent a letter to the GAO requesting a report be completed that explores the relationship between labor force participation rates and substance use as well as a review of state and federal policies that may affect this trend.
In that letter, the senators noted that while the percentage of older Americans in the workforce had increased, the last decade has seen a decline in prime-age workers.
Alexa can be reached at [email protected]
