Older people continue to work longer

Older people who continue to work are much in demand due to increasing scarcity at the job market. Therefore the Government is trying to keep people in the active labour force longer. This effort seems to be a success, as the participation of older people has been increasing in recent years. In 2000 about half of the people aged between 55 and 60 and 16% of the people between 60 and 65 was still working against 38 and 13% in the late eighties.

Older men more often have a paid job than older women. In 2000 there were almost twice as many men than women aged between 55 and 60 working jobs: about 68% of the men held a job of at least 12 hours a week, against 31% of the women. In the 60 to 65 age bracket there were three times as many men in jobs as women.

Labour participation of older people by sex

The increased participation of people over 55 is related to education level. The higher the education level, the greater the increase. In 1999 about 15% of the older people without school certificates had a paid job, whereas about 59% of the university educated older people still worked.

Labour participation of older people between 55-65 by education level, 1999

Sabine Lucassen