Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Demographic changes with an increasing number of people receiving pensions and a decreasing number of working people paying into the pension system represent major challenges for the German social security system. In particular, it is important to support people to continue working so that there is no (premature) reduction in their earning capacity and pensioners with reduced earning capacity (disability pensioners) should be helped to return to gainful employment. The aim of this study was to investigate the differing needs of two kinds of disability pensioners, namely those with mental illness and those who were physically ill. METHODS: A total of 453 persons receiving disability pension because of temporararily reduced earning capacity were interviewed over the telephone. Differences in demographic variables, occupational characteristics before applying for disability pension, and general resources were examined in descriptive analyses and multivariate analyses of variance with post-hoc tests. RESULTS: A third of the sample (33.1%) suffered from mental illness and the rest from somatic disorders. Those with mental illness reported higher perceived mental age, lower work-related self-efficacy, and lower quality of life concerning their mental health. Moreover, they reported higher levels of mental stressors at work. CONCLUSION: Mentally ill disability pensioners differ considerably from those with somatic illnesses. Accordingly, to promote a return to work, interventions need to target different factors in these two groups.