Late Work in Sweden: Exit Pathways Express Unequal Exclusion Risks

Abstract

Based on Swedish National Registry Data, this paper investigates the social structure of exclusion risks in late working life in Sweden by analyzing exit from working life, employment breaks, and late employment trajectories according to gender and education. Individuals born in 1950 (n = 107,830) are followed between the years 2010 and 2018. Results show that women with low education exit working life earlier and have a higher risk of employment breaks due to reduced working ability, while men with low education have a higher risk of employment breaks due to unemployment. Men in general and people with high education have a higher probability of moving to self-employment in late working life. We conclude that research and social policies require an understanding of multifarious late work trajectories to unearth the inequality of exclusion risks in the late phases of working life and the potential for interventions towards equal and inclusive prolongation.

When we were young: how labour market attachment during mid-life affects labour market exit

“…The literature shows that labour market attachment throughout the life course affects the late working life outcomes of individuals such as lower earnings of older workers with career breaks and job losses (König et al ., 2019; Heisig and Radl, 2017). When it comes to the link between labour market attachment history and the timing of the exit, the direction of the association is rather mixed as exit is not only through pension receipt but also through various alternative pathways such as unemployment, disability or illness (Thern et al ., 2022; Öylü et al. , 2023).…”