Working conditions in late working life, paths to retirement and health after retirement
By studying individual life courses from a number of European countries, the overarching aims of this project is to analyse: (1) how physical, psychological and social working conditions in late working life, together with socioeconomic position and gender, shape individuals’ retirement trajectories; (2) the extent to which these retirement trajectories are influenced by the institutional arrangements of the welfare state; and (3) how these retirement trajectories are related to health after retirement. A central point of departure for the project is that exit from working life for many individuals is an extended process over time characterized by different combinations of work and time outside the labour force and sources of income. Work environment factors, together with welfare state arrangements, are important in this context as they may influence the exit routes that are open and possible for individuals to take. The project also aims to highlight the importance of socioeconomic position and gender for working conditions, exit routes and post-retirement health. An important methodological foundation of the project is so-called sequence analysis that is particularly suited for analysing complex life courses. The project uses individual-level panel data from the SHARE survey, conducted six times since 2004 and currently including 27 countries, combined with country-level data on welfare state arrangements from the so-called SPIN database.
Final report
Purpose and development
The aims of this project were threefold: 1. To analyze how working conditions in late working life shape individuals’ retirement trajectories; 2. To analyze the extent to which these retirement trajectories are influenced by the institutional arrangements of the welfare state; and 3. To analyze how these retirement trajectories are related to health after retirement. The project combined a life-course perspective - by analyzing how working conditions influences retirement trajectories and health after retirement, and a comparative perspective - by analyzing how welfare state arrangements (such as e.g. possibilities for early retirement) in different countries influences retirement trajectories. Individual-level data in the project came from the SHARE surveys, which contain cross-national individual-level panel data. At the time of the project, the SHARE surveys had been conducted six times, starting in 2004 and covering 27 countries. Special use was also made of the so-called SHARELIFE data, which contain life-history information of each respondent participating in wave 2 of the regular SHARE survey. SHARELIFE data cover areas such as childhood conditions, family formation, health and employment histories, including measures of working conditions. This data was combined with institutional country-level data from the so-called SPIN database.
An important part of the project consisted of coding periods of sickness absence during individuals whole working life. This proved to be a challenging task, as there are different sorts of information on sickness periods as reported by respondents in the SHARE data, and this information sometimes displayed substantial variation (for example, with regard to the exact date when a period of sickness absence started and ended). A novelty as compared to the original project description was the use of actual compensation from different welfare state schemes (e.g., aim 2) instead of only relying on institutional data.
Results
The three most important conclusions from the project are as follows:
1. Respondents with a demanding work situation in late working life have a higher likelihood of exiting early from the workforce, using bort early retirement schemes but also social protection schemes such as sickness, disability and invalidity schemes.
2. A demanding work situation in late working life is negatively associated with both mental health and quality of life after retirement.
3. The generosity of early retirement and related schemes moderates the relationship between work situations in late working life and post-retirement mental health and quality of life.
Overall, results from the project implies that governments and policymakers may be confronted with a trade-off situation that is more complex than previously acknowledged. Earlier research has viewed early exit pathways that enable individuals to leave the labour market – partly or completely – before the statutory retirement age as a powerful ‘pull’ factor that draws individuals towards early retirement.
At the societal level, it has therefore been argued that overly generous early exit pathways may lead to budgetary pressure on governments by reducing tax revenue and increasing social expenditure. At the individual level, working later in life may also have important social and economic benefits. This project suggests that such effects will have to be weighed against the positive effects of providing relatively generous early exit pathways, especially for individuals with adverse working conditions in late working life.
Besides these three conclusions, I would like to point to two other conclusions that can be drawn from this project. The first of these conclusions relates to the social policy level. This project has shown that there are several income transfer schemes that individuals may draw upon if, and when, exiting early from the labour force, depending on which country the live in. For example, in some countries individuals may rely on early retirement benefits if exiting the labour force before the statutory retirement age. In other countries there are no such benefits, and instead there are (for example) extended unemployment or sickness benefits available for older workers who cannot participate in paid work for health reasons, but have not reached the official pension age. It is therefore important to consider institutional equivalence, both when analysing exit from the labour force but also in social policy analyses more generally. Institutional equivalence may be defined as situations when different income transfer schemes – such as, e.g., early retirement, disability, sickness and unemployment benefit schemes – are used to accomplish similar purposes. Institutional equivalence is often present when comparing countries, but may also be present when analysing a single country over time. An example of this when the early retirement scheme in Sweden was formally abolished 2003, but older workers were in effect still granted early retirement through, for example, the sickness benefit system.
The second conclusion refer to the individual level and the importance of different dimensions or aspects of working conditions. Conclusion 1 above, that respondents with a demanding work situation in late working life have a higher likelihood of exiting early from the workforce, applies both to individual with a ‘passive’ and individuals with a ‘high strain’ work situation. According to the demand-control model, what unites these two work situations are low control (in contrast to both ‘active’ and ‘low strain’ work situations, where control is high). This points to the importance of control and influence, both over the immediate working environment (task-level control) but also at an organizational level for exits from the labour force.
Dissemination activities
The project period coincided with the Corona pandemic, which restricted the possibility to disseminate results from the project at international conferences. However, I managed to present results from the project at the annual conference of the European Consortium of Sociological Research (ECSR) at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, 12-14 September 2019.
I also presented results from the project at the annual meeting of the Swedish ESPAnet (Nätverket för forskning om socialpolitik och välfärd) in Umeå, november 24-25 2022.
I would here like to point out that the paper presented in Umeå (entitled “The scarring effects of long-term sickness absence. A comparative and life-course analysis of the role of sickness benefits’) was co-authored with Maria Forslund, then a doctoral student, now a Ph.D. working at The Public Health Agency of Sweden (“Folkhälsomyndigheten’). The plan is to finalize this paper and send it to a journal in 2024.
Publications
Peer-reviewed journals
Sjöberg, Ola. (2023) "Work-retirement transitions and mental health: A longitudinal analysis of the role of social protection generosity in 11 countries." Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 51.1: 90-97. doi.org/10.1177/14034948211042 Open access
Sjöberg, Ola. (2022) "Routes to retirement, working conditions and quality of life in comparative perspective." Health & Place 75: 102797. doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102797 Open access
Manuscripts
Sjöberg, Ola. (2019) “Retirement trajectories, social policies and health in Europe”. Paper presented at the annual conference of European Consortium of Sociological Research (ECSR), university of Lausanne, Switzerland, 12-14 september 2019.
Sjöberg, Ola and Maria Forslund (2022) ”The scarring effects of long-term sickness absence. A comparative and life-course analysis of the role of sickness benefits”. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Swedish ESPAnet (Nätverket för forskning om socialpolitik och välfärd) in Umeå, november 24-25 2022
The aims of this project were threefold: 1. To analyze how working conditions in late working life shape individuals’ retirement trajectories; 2. To analyze the extent to which these retirement trajectories are influenced by the institutional arrangements of the welfare state; and 3. To analyze how these retirement trajectories are related to health after retirement. The project combined a life-course perspective - by analyzing how working conditions influences retirement trajectories and health after retirement, and a comparative perspective - by analyzing how welfare state arrangements (such as e.g. possibilities for early retirement) in different countries influences retirement trajectories. Individual-level data in the project came from the SHARE surveys, which contain cross-national individual-level panel data. At the time of the project, the SHARE surveys had been conducted six times, starting in 2004 and covering 27 countries. Special use was also made of the so-called SHARELIFE data, which contain life-history information of each respondent participating in wave 2 of the regular SHARE survey. SHARELIFE data cover areas such as childhood conditions, family formation, health and employment histories, including measures of working conditions. This data was combined with institutional country-level data from the so-called SPIN database.
An important part of the project consisted of coding periods of sickness absence during individuals whole working life. This proved to be a challenging task, as there are different sorts of information on sickness periods as reported by respondents in the SHARE data, and this information sometimes displayed substantial variation (for example, with regard to the exact date when a period of sickness absence started and ended). A novelty as compared to the original project description was the use of actual compensation from different welfare state schemes (e.g., aim 2) instead of only relying on institutional data.
Results
The three most important conclusions from the project are as follows:
1. Respondents with a demanding work situation in late working life have a higher likelihood of exiting early from the workforce, using bort early retirement schemes but also social protection schemes such as sickness, disability and invalidity schemes.
2. A demanding work situation in late working life is negatively associated with both mental health and quality of life after retirement.
3. The generosity of early retirement and related schemes moderates the relationship between work situations in late working life and post-retirement mental health and quality of life.
Overall, results from the project implies that governments and policymakers may be confronted with a trade-off situation that is more complex than previously acknowledged. Earlier research has viewed early exit pathways that enable individuals to leave the labour market – partly or completely – before the statutory retirement age as a powerful ‘pull’ factor that draws individuals towards early retirement.
At the societal level, it has therefore been argued that overly generous early exit pathways may lead to budgetary pressure on governments by reducing tax revenue and increasing social expenditure. At the individual level, working later in life may also have important social and economic benefits. This project suggests that such effects will have to be weighed against the positive effects of providing relatively generous early exit pathways, especially for individuals with adverse working conditions in late working life.
Besides these three conclusions, I would like to point to two other conclusions that can be drawn from this project. The first of these conclusions relates to the social policy level. This project has shown that there are several income transfer schemes that individuals may draw upon if, and when, exiting early from the labour force, depending on which country the live in. For example, in some countries individuals may rely on early retirement benefits if exiting the labour force before the statutory retirement age. In other countries there are no such benefits, and instead there are (for example) extended unemployment or sickness benefits available for older workers who cannot participate in paid work for health reasons, but have not reached the official pension age. It is therefore important to consider institutional equivalence, both when analysing exit from the labour force but also in social policy analyses more generally. Institutional equivalence may be defined as situations when different income transfer schemes – such as, e.g., early retirement, disability, sickness and unemployment benefit schemes – are used to accomplish similar purposes. Institutional equivalence is often present when comparing countries, but may also be present when analysing a single country over time. An example of this when the early retirement scheme in Sweden was formally abolished 2003, but older workers were in effect still granted early retirement through, for example, the sickness benefit system.
The second conclusion refer to the individual level and the importance of different dimensions or aspects of working conditions. Conclusion 1 above, that respondents with a demanding work situation in late working life have a higher likelihood of exiting early from the workforce, applies both to individual with a ‘passive’ and individuals with a ‘high strain’ work situation. According to the demand-control model, what unites these two work situations are low control (in contrast to both ‘active’ and ‘low strain’ work situations, where control is high). This points to the importance of control and influence, both over the immediate working environment (task-level control) but also at an organizational level for exits from the labour force.
Dissemination activities
The project period coincided with the Corona pandemic, which restricted the possibility to disseminate results from the project at international conferences. However, I managed to present results from the project at the annual conference of the European Consortium of Sociological Research (ECSR) at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, 12-14 September 2019.
I also presented results from the project at the annual meeting of the Swedish ESPAnet (Nätverket för forskning om socialpolitik och välfärd) in Umeå, november 24-25 2022.
I would here like to point out that the paper presented in Umeå (entitled “The scarring effects of long-term sickness absence. A comparative and life-course analysis of the role of sickness benefits’) was co-authored with Maria Forslund, then a doctoral student, now a Ph.D. working at The Public Health Agency of Sweden (“Folkhälsomyndigheten’). The plan is to finalize this paper and send it to a journal in 2024.
Publications
Peer-reviewed journals
Sjöberg, Ola. (2023) "Work-retirement transitions and mental health: A longitudinal analysis of the role of social protection generosity in 11 countries." Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 51.1: 90-97. doi.org/10.1177/14034948211042 Open access
Sjöberg, Ola. (2022) "Routes to retirement, working conditions and quality of life in comparative perspective." Health & Place 75: 102797. doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2022.102797 Open access
Manuscripts
Sjöberg, Ola. (2019) “Retirement trajectories, social policies and health in Europe”. Paper presented at the annual conference of European Consortium of Sociological Research (ECSR), university of Lausanne, Switzerland, 12-14 september 2019.
Sjöberg, Ola and Maria Forslund (2022) ”The scarring effects of long-term sickness absence. A comparative and life-course analysis of the role of sickness benefits”. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Swedish ESPAnet (Nätverket för forskning om socialpolitik och välfärd) in Umeå, november 24-25 2022