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Hearing Loss Affects Income |
Did you know that the number of Americans who find it difficult to hear without hearing help amounts to more than 31.5 million!!! That is an increase of 9.9 percent since 2000! This is the latest news from The Better Hearing Institute (BHI) which published these
findings in their July 2005 report. In that publication, BHI also documented that untreated hearing loss has a tremendously negative effect on individual incomes.
According to the October 2005 edition of The Hearing Review, Vol. 12, No. 11, p. 16, hearing loss can impact household income by as much as $12,000 per year, depending upon the degree of hearing loss! The good news is that hearing aids do help change this picture by 50%. Of that 31.5 million figure, only 37% are retirement age. The majority of those who suffer from unaided hearing loss are of school age or are currently in the work force.
Hearing loss in the work force
As you can imagine, hearing is critical in order to effectively communicate in the work force. In addition, it's an important safety factor in many work situations. Not hearing leads to mistakes which affect customer care and service that can cost a company. Hearing loss most certainly has a negative effect on one's work performance. Ironically, many choose not to wear a hearing aid because they don't want heir loss to be apparent to others — but hearing loss is not something that can be hidden. A hearing loss is more noticeable than hearing aids.
Hearing loss and age groups
Only 23% of hearing impaired Americans have hearing help for their loss. Here are some additional statistics: Of the baby boomer segment (ages 41-59 — hey, that's me!!), 1 in 6 have a hearing loss. And what really is alarming is that 1 in 14 of the Generation X set (ages 29-40) already have
hearing loss!
If you think our country has a hearing problem, consider the state of hearing in Barcelona, Spain. Half of their young population has permanent hearing loss due to noise exposure from personal stereos, traffic, and discos. They estimate that many will need a hearing aid by the time their 40 years old!
In our office, we are seeing more younger people — part of the workforce population — with hearing loss. The annual cost of untreated hearing loss in our country, in terms of lost income, is estimated to total more than $100 billion a year!!
Hearing loss impact on individuals and families
Of course, hearing loss has even more of an impact upon a person's everyday life. Hearing loss can affect one's physical, emotional and mental health. It affects others' perceptions of one's mental acumen and affects one's social skills. It has an impact on self esteem and confidence. All these affect a person's school and work performance.
In addition, hearing loss affects one's family relationships. The impact upon a family can be huge. We have actually had couples in our office on the brink of divorce because a spouse continued to be in denial regarding their hearing loss. One wife had her nerves strained and her throat raw due to constantly repeating herself loudly. Her husband made a half-hearted attempt at getting hearing help, but ultimately refused to wear a hearing aid. The stress and strain on a relationship when one spouse has to constantly raise their voice and repeat what they say, can be pretty intense. Add to that a spouse who no longer wants to participate in social events because they can't hear, and you have a major disaster waiting to happen.
Benefit of hearing aids
Helen Keller said, "When you lose your vision, you lose contact with things. When you lose your hearing, you lose contact with people." BHI found that the vast majority of people who tried hearing aids felt that their lives had improved.
The good news is that today, there are a myriad of choices in hearing help. Flexible, fully digital products can be obtained at very reasonable prices — at a fraction of what some analogs used to cost! In addition, even though documentation shows that income declines as hearing loss increases, the decline in income is cut by half for those who wear hearing aids. It's good to know that hearing loss does not have to have the negative impact it once had. There are solutions!
Sources:
The Better Hearing Institute (BHI), July 2005
The Hearing Review, October 2005, Vol. 12, No. 11, p. 16
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| (Article 1205, originally published December 2005) |
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