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. 2019 Mar;25(2):e2213.
doi: 10.1002/psp.2213. Epub 2018 Nov 21.

Gender differences and individual, household, and workplace characteristics: Regional geographies of extended working lives

Nicola Shelton  1 , Jenny Head  1 , Ewan Carr  2 , Paola Zaninotto  1 , Gareth Hagger-Johnson  1 , Emily Murray  1
Affiliations

Gender differences and individual, household, and workplace characteristics: Regional geographies of extended working lives

Nicola Shelton et al. Popul Space Place. 2019 Mar.

Abstract

Increasing labour market participation among older workers is embedded in government policy in the United Kingdom and many other industrialised countries with rises in the state pension age in response to increasing life expectancy. Despite this, many workers stop working before state pension age with around a 20% reduction in the proportion of adults in work between ages 50 and 60 in 2011 in England and Wales. This paper considers the risk of remaining in work by region and gender between 2001 and 2011 for adults aged 40-49 in 2001. Men had significantly higher risk of extended working in the East Midlands (1.4×) East of England (1.5×), South East (1.6×), and South West (1.6×) compared with the North East. Women in all regions apart from London and Wales had significantly higher risk of extended working compared with the North East: ranging from 1.15 times in the North West and West Midlands to 1.6 times in the South West. Adjustment for nonemployment-related socio-economic status, housing tenure, qualifications, and car ownership, and employment status in 2001 attenuated all significant regional differences in extended working in men and in women in most regions. Workplace characteristics attenuated most of the remaining regional differences in women: women working in larger employers in 2001 or working at distances of 200 km or more, abroad or from home, had lower risk of remaining in work, whereas access to a car and higher working hours increased risk. Policies to increase qualifications and skills among older adults are recommended.

Keywords: later life work; longitudinal study; retirement; unemployment; work exit.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proportion of adults aged 50 and over working in 2011, England and Wales
Figure 2
Figure 2
Proportion of men aged 50–59 in paid work in 2011 by local authority, England and Wales
Figure 3
Figure 3
Proportion of women aged 50–59 in paid work in 2011 by local authority, England and Wales
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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