lowest prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, cancer, lung disease, heart problems,

strokes, arthritis and psychological problems, and they have the highest self-rated health),

followed by retired women. As expected, women who report being work disabled have

the poorest health profiles. Since analyses of labor force exits will draw solely upon

women in the labor force at baseline, it is worth noting the presence of a healthy-worker

selection bias.

Table 3. Measures of Physical and Self-Rated Health by Baseline Labor Force Status

 ILF Retired Work-Disabled
# of Diagnosed Conditions (mean) a***, b***, c*** 1.0 1.3 2.6
Self-Rated Health (mean) a***, b***, c*** 2.3 2.7 4.3
High Blood Pressure (%) a***, b***, c*** 29.6 35.8 51.4
Diabetes (%) a***, b***, c*** 6.2 9.8 21.5
Cancer (%) a*, b***, c*** 6.5 7.2 12.0
Lung Disease (%) a**, b***, c*** 4.6 5.2 20.6
Heart Problems (%) a***, b***, c*** 6.1 8.6 30.2
Stroke (%) a***, b***, c*** 1.1 1.8 9.6
Arthritis (%) a***, b***, c*** 36.4 42.0 70.5
Psychological Problems (%) a***, b***, c*** 6.3 11.7 38.7
*p<.10; **p<.05; ***p<.01
a Denotes statistically significant different mean values between individuals ILF and
 Retired
b Denotes statistically significant different mean values between individuals ILF and
 Work Disabled
c Denotes statistically significant different mean values between work-disabled and
 retired individuals

 Nested model strategy

 Tables 4 and 5 present results from the multivariate proportional hazard models of

the impact of race on rates of retirement or exiting the labor force due to a disability,

respectively. Both tables employ a nested model strategy in order to explore how life

course factors may intervene in the race-labor force behavior relationship. Model 1