Fafo project: Work and health in old age

All over Europe, there is increased focus on longer working lives due to increased life expectancy and decreased birth rates, which put strains on welfare funding across nations. Although the overall population on average is healthier, better educated and has longer careers than before, there is limited knowledge on the health consequences of prolonged working careers.

In addition, recent studies have found increased morbidity among middle-aged individuals, both in the US and in Europe.

Results from the Global Burden of Disease Study also show that the number of healthy life years does not increase quite as much as life expectancy, and the improvement in health is not uniform, but more pronounced in groups with higher socioeconomic status. Thus, there is a need to investigate in more detail whether and, if so, for which groups of employees prolonged working careers benefit health.

Through a new and innovative use of registry data and panel-survey data, this project seeks to substantially increase our knowledge on the relationship between longer working careers, retirement and health; knowledge that is important for future welfare, health and labour market policy.