Night owls may struggle to continue working until official retirement age
· Medical Xpressedited by Gaby Clark, reviewed by Robert Egan
Gaby Clark
Scientific Editor
Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process
Robert Egan
Senior Editor
Meet our editorial team
Behind our editorial process Editors' notes
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:
fact-checked
peer-reviewed publication
trusted source
proofread
The GIST Add as preferred source
People with evening chronotypes are 1.7 times as likely as morning chronotypes to retire early and receive a disability pension, according to research published online in the journal Occupational & Environmental Medicine.
Chronotype is the body's natural schedule for sleeping and waking. Based on the timing of body functions and alertness, people can be divided into three main groups: morning types, intermediate types and evening types.
Previous studies have indicated that evening types (E-types) appear to have poorer health and experience more difficulties at work than morning types (M-types).
However, the link between being a "night owl" or a "morning person" and receiving a disability pension has not been fully established.
Tracking chronotypes and disability pensions
To strengthen the evidence, researchers analyzed whether people classified as E-types in their mid-40s were more likely to receive a disability pension over the next 12 years than people classified as M-types.
The researchers analyzed data from an ongoing population study that began in 1966 and included 96% of all people born in two northern provinces of Finland.
In 2012, when the participants were 46, they were asked questions to determine their chronotype. These included how easily they woke in the morning, how tired they were during the first half-hour, when they preferred to work and whether they thought of themselves as a morning or evening person.
The baseline sample included 5,679 people (2,597 men and 3,082 women). The researchers classified 253 men (9.7%) and 381 women (12.4%) as E-types, and 1,182 men (46%) and 1,355 women (44%) as M-types. The remainder were classified as intermediate types.
The researchers then linked this information with data from Finland's national registers, which provide information on work and pensions.
Evening types faced higher pension risk
During the 12-year follow-up, 135 of the men (5.2%) and 249 of the women (8.1%) were granted their first disability pension.
Being classified as an E-type at age 46 was linked to a 1.7-fold greater likelihood of receiving a disability pension over the following 12 years compared with being an M-type, for both men and women.
The association remained after the researchers adjusted for socioeconomic factors such as education level and type of occupation.
Health and sleep may explain link
A disability pension is granted in Finland only after a period of severe, long-term health decline. The researchers believe that the poorer health of E-types compared with M-types is the main contributor to the higher incidence of disability pensions in this group.
They suggest that E-types may be more likely to have poorer health because of less healthy choices and disruptions to their internal body clocks, which can lead to sleep problems.
Chronotype is an innate biological trait with a strong genetic basis, a finding the study also supported using genetic information. Previous studies have shown that chronotype is very stable in adulthood.
Long follow-up leaves causal questions
A strength of the study is that it followed a large group of people from all sectors of the economy and a range of occupations over a long period.
Because this is an observational study, no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect. Another limitation is that changes in health and circumstances in the years after the baseline survey may not have been accounted for.
Workforce implications for evening types
Nevertheless, the researchers say the health of some E-types approaching their 50s and 60s may have deteriorated enough to erode their ability to work and make them more likely than M-types to need disability pensions.
"People who are E-type represent a significant proportion of the population and their health and ability to continue working until retirement age pose challenges for sustainable economies," say the researchers.
Publication details
Evening chronotype and disability pensions: 12-year register-based follow up of middle-aged adults from the Northern Finland birth cohort 1966, Occupational and Environmental Medicine (2026). DOI: 10.1136/oemed-2026-110995
Journal information: Occupational and Environmental Medicine
Clinical categories
Occupational medicineSleep & RecoverySleep medicineHealthy aging Provided by British Medical Journal Who's behind this story?
Gaby Clark
MA in English, copy editor since 2021 with experience in higher education and health content. Dedicated to trustworthy science news. Full profile →
Robert Egan
Bachelor's in mathematical biology, Master's in creative writing. Well-traveled with unique perspectives on science and language. Full profile →
Citation: Night owls may struggle to continue working until official retirement age (2026, September 29) retrieved 29 September 2026 from https://medicalxpress.com/news/2026-09-night-owls-struggle-age.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.