The influence of past working conditions on retirees' self-reported health and drug use.

Summary The aim of this article is to measure the specific effect of physical and psychosocial working conditions encountered during the entire working career on the self-reported physical and mental health and drug consumption of retirees. To do this, we use data from the Health and Professional Itinerary Survey (Sip). We control for socio-economic, career pathway and individual characteristics prior to entering the labour market, but also for health status in childhood and adulthood. Our results highlight the negative role of past working conditions on the physical and mental health of retirees with a clear link between physical constraints and physical health on the one hand and psychosocial risks and mental health (including the use of medication) on the other. This result shows the long-term penalizing character of arduous working conditions on the health of retirees.