What Next After a Rejected Disability Pension Application? Unemployment, Sickness and Rehabilitation Benefits and New Disability Pension Decisions in a Four-Year Follow-up
Abstract
Rejected disability pension applicants are a vulnerable group as alternating sickness, unemployment and rehabilitation episodes and new pension applications may result in long-standing uncertainty. A better understanding of post-rejection routes is important in order to prevent personal and societal costs and to promote re-involvement in the labour force.
A 70% sample of 18–58 year-old Finns receiving a first rejection to a disability pension application in 2010 (N=4536) were derived from national pension registers and linked to register data on various allowance episodes. Receipt of unemployment, sickness and rehabilitation benefits and repeated applications for disability pension during the four subsequent years were examined. Alternating between different benefits and
the prevalence of long allowance periods after pension rejection were examined using logistic multinomial regression.
During the four-year follow-up, 70% received at least some unemployment allowance and 59% at least some sickness allowance. 32% received rehabilitation allowance, and 21% had at least one recurring pension rejection. 43% were eventually awarded a disability pension during the follow-up. 54% had received at least two benefit types during the follow-up and 30% spent most of the follow-up period on benefits. Age group
30-49 years, lack of employment in 2009, manual work and having a musculoskeletal diagnosis, among others, raised the risk for long allowance periods without an awarded pension after the initial pension rejection.
Allowance periods and alternating between different benefits are common after a disability pension rejection. The benefit and service systems should strive to find a sustainable solution for those in a prolonged unresolved situation to lower both societal outlay and personal distress.
Authors
Riku Perhoniemi, Jenni Blomgren, Mikko Laaksonen
Additional Information
- Peer-Reviewed: yes.
- Open Access: yes.
- Cite as: Perhoniemi, R., Blomgren, J., & Laaksonen, M. (2018.) Mitä hylkäävän työkyvyttömyyseläkepäätöksen jälkeen: Työttömyys-, sairauspäiväraha- ja kuntoutusrahaetuudet sekä uudet eläkepäätökset neljän vuoden seurannassa. Yhteiskuntapolitiikka, 83(2), 117–131. https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi-fe201804196717
