Extending working life: experiences from Sweden, 1981–2011

Abstract

Population ageing is making it increasingly difficult for countries to sustain their current levels social welfare transfers from the economically active population to the dependent elderly. To meet this challenge, the Swedish government has implemented various reforms since the 1990s aimed at reducing incentives to take early retirement. However, a critical question has emerged in response to these reforms: namely, whether members of certain socially and demographically disadvantaged groups will, in practice, be able to work longer. This paper provides a detailed overview of retirement trends in Sweden, disaggregated by educational attainment, health status, and country of birth. Our results show that the growth pattern in the average effective retirement age since the mid-1990s was shared by individuals regardless of their educational level, health status, or country of birth. This shared growth pattern suggests that it is possible to extend the working lives of all groups of individuals, regardless of their socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.

Late Work in Sweden: Exit Pathways Express Unequal Exclusion Risks

“…In fact, analyses show that more strict disability insurance rules coincide with a rise in labor force participation among older people in Sweden (Laun & Palme 2020). However, these types of policies bear the risk to have adverse effects and, for example, worsen the quality of life and chances for social participation among people who rely on social benefits (Qi et al 2019). Moreover, late work inequality might itself increase if these people are unable to find a suitable job or forced into lower paid employments with problematic working conditions.…”

“…Sweden's higher participation rate is often explained by active labor market policies and incentives provided to keep people working (Jensen 2021;McAllister et al 2019). High participation rates in Sweden are explained by pension reforms in the 1990s (Qi et al 2019), increased stringency in disability insurance programs, and a higher composition of higher educated and healthier groups (Laun & Palme 2020). However, it looks as if participation rates have reached a kind of ceiling, although there is still room for improvement in increasing participation and further upsurges would require efforts such as shifts in pension systems, improvements in work conditions, and investments in lifelong learning at the state, branch, and employer levels (Halvorsen 2021;Laun & Palme 2019).…”

People living with dementia using eldercare in Sweden

“…This process started in the 1970s due to increased life expectancy (men: 83 years; women: 85.5 years in the year 2019 compared to 72 years and 78 years respectively, in 1970) (SCB, 2020a); and the total fertility rate was stabilized at 1.83 from 2009 onward. In the second stage, the process is mostly driven by declining oldage mortality (Qi et al, 2019). As a result, the proportion of older adults is increasing, while the share of the working age population is decreasing.…”

Integration policy and refugees’ economic performance: Evidence from Sweden’s 2010 reform of the introduction programme

“…Nevertheless, recent empirical evidence suggests the contrary -for example, that the employment level of older immigrants who arrived in Sweden decades ago is still lower than that of native-born Swedes (Qi, 2016;Qi et al, 2019). Some researchers argue that the native-immigrant gaps might be associated with factors that are not measured in the available data.…”

“…Economic assimilation theory, however, predicts that, with reinvestment in human capital and the acquisition of skills that are specific to the host country, immigrants’ earnings tend to converge with those of the native‐born over time (Chiswick, 1978). Nevertheless, recent empirical evidence suggests the contrary – for example, that the employment level of older immigrants who arrived in Sweden decades ago is still lower than that of native‐born Swedes (Qi, 2016; Qi et al, 2019).…”