Prolonging working careers has long been a key societal goal. According to the recent study, the expected length of working careers for those over 50 has continued to increase, but the employment trend is the opposite for younger age groups.
Economic downturns in recent decades appear to have affected younger working-age people more harshly than older ones: unemployment has impacted younger age groups more significantly. Moreover, periods when younger age groups are neither employed nor unemployed have increased.
– In the year 2020, the expected duration of working careers for 25-year-old men was 28 years and for women 27 years, which is almost the same for both genders as it was in 2008, describes University Lecturer Liina Junna from the University of Helsinki.
The expectancy calculations indicate the average number of remaining working years after a given age, assuming that the conditions at the time of measurement remain unchanged.
Picture 2: The English version of the picture can be found in English in the research report.
The expected time spent in retirement increased for men by about seven months and remained unchanged for women between 2010 and 2020. In 2020, men were expected to have slightly less than 19 years and women about 23 years in retirement.
Socioeconomic differences in the expected length of working careers remain considerable
The expected length of working careers varies according to socioeconomic position. The study indicates that these differences have remained large and have even increased in recent decades. Those with less education and in blue-collar occupations spent the shortest time employed and the longest time unemployed or outside the labor force.
– In 2020, for example, the expected length of working careers for men in upper white-collar occupations was seven years longer and for women nine years longer than in blue-collar occupations, Junna states.
Differences between occupational groups are also evident in retirement.
– Compared to those who worked in upper white-collar occupations, individuals with a blue-collar background spent a longer time in disability retirement and a shorter time in old-age retirement, notes Chief Researcher Taina Leinonen from the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
How is the increasing life expectancy distributed between employment and retirement years?
Life expectancy has increased across all socioeconomic groups in recent decades. People spend more time employed than in retirement, but the ratio of employment to retirement years differs between occupational groups, especially among women.
– In 2020, women in upper white-collar occupations were expected to have 1.6 years of employment for each year of retirement, while in blue-collar occupations, it was 1.2 employment years per retirement year. For men, the expected employment-to-retirement ratio was 1.8 in upper white-collar occupations and 1.6 in blue-collar occupations, says Leinonen.
However, Leinonen notes that these calculations are limited to working careers after the age of 25:
– For example, those in blue-collar occupations may have accumulated more working years before this age compared to upper white-collar employees, who typically undergo longer education.
Picture 1: The English version of the picture can be found in English in the research report.
The research was funded by the Finnish Centre for Pensions and the Strategic Research Council (LIFECON-project).
Research publication: Trends in working life expectancy by education and occupational social class in Finland, 1991 –2020
Additional information
Liina Junna, University Lecturer, University of Helsinki, email: liina.junna[at]helsinki.fi, phone: +358 29 412 4080
Taina Leinonen, Chief Researcher, Finnish Institute of Occupational Health, email: taina.leinonen[at]ttl.fi, phone: +358 30 474 2030
