Equal numbers of Finnish earnings-related disability pensions are granted on mental health grounds for both white-collar workers and those working in physically demanding trades, according to Ilmarinen.

Ilmarinen said that incapacity for work based on mental health is often primarily connected to information-intensive work and its cognitive load. However, its Disability Pension Index found that when the number of permanent disability pensions granted in Finland is compared to the number of employees, it becomes clear that mental health-based disability pensions occur equally in physically demanding sectors as in sectors dominated by white-collar workers.

“To study the differences between sectors, we compared the number of permanent disability pensions granted with different diagnoses to the number of employees in each sector. It seems that mental health-based disability pensions start at roughly the same rate regardless of industry. The large share of mental health-based benefits in specialist fields is therefore due to the low number of other diseases, not the prevalence of mental health disorders,” Ilmarinen senior advisor, Anssi Smedlund, stated.

Mental health disorders are the most common causes of incapacity for work in specialist fields. In the IT and communications industry, up to 47 per cent of permanent pensions are granted due to mental health disorders. For example, in the field of construction, the share is only 13 per cent.

“Based on the proportions of diagnoses, however, it cannot be concluded that mental health disorders occur more commonly in specialist fields than in other fields,” Smedlund explained.

Overall, Ilmarinen’s index shows that, over time, the number of new disability pensions has decreased in Finland. The medical reasons for disability pensions have also changed.

“Twenty years ago, the most common causes of disability pensions were related to diseases of the musculoskeletal system. Mental health disorders came second, and circulatory system diseases came third. Nowadays, mental health disorders and diseases of the musculoskeletal system are equally common, while diseases of the circulatory system are rarer,” Ilmarinen director, Kari-Pekka Martimo, said.

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