IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/dem/wpaper/wp-2021-018.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The extension of late working life in Germany: trends, inequalities, and the East-West divide

Author

Listed:
  • Christian Dudel

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Elke Loichinger

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Sebastian Klüsener

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

  • Harun Sulak
  • Mikko Myrskylä

    (Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany)

Abstract

The extension of late working life has been proposed as a potential remedy for the challenges of aging societies. For Germany, surprisingly little is known about trends and social inequalities in the length of late working life. Here, we use data from the German Microcensus to estimate working life expectancy from age 55 onwards for the 1941-1955 birth cohorts. We adjust our calculations of working life expectancy for working hours, and present results for western and eastern Germany by gender, education, and occupation. While working life expectancy has increased across cohorts, we find strong regional and socioeconomic disparities. Decomposition analyses show that among males, socioeconomic differences are predominantly driven by variation in employment rates; whereas among women, variation in working hours is also highly relevant. Older eastern German women have longer working lives than older western German women, which is likely attributable to the GDR legacy of high female employment.

Suggested Citation

  • Christian Dudel & Elke Loichinger & Sebastian Klüsener & Harun Sulak & Mikko Myrskylä, 2021. "The extension of late working life in Germany: trends, inequalities, and the East-West divide," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2021-018, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2021-018
    DOI: 10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2021-018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2021-018.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://osf.io/eb2qs/
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/MPIDR-WP-2021-018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark Hayward & William Grady, 1990. "Work and Retirement Among a Cohort of Older Men in the United States, 1966–1983," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(3), pages 337-356, August.
    2. Larsen, Mona & Pedersen, Peder J., 2017. "Labour force activity after 65: what explain recent trends in Denmark, Germany and Sweden?," Journal for Labour Market Research, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany], vol. 50(1), pages 15-27.
    3. Victoria Busch & Svenn-Åge Dahl & Dennis Dittrich, 2009. "An empirical study of age discrimination in Norway and Germany," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(5), pages 633-651.
    4. Frank T. Denton & Christine H. Feaver & Byron G. Spencer, 2009. "Cohort Working Life Tables for Older Canadians," Social and Economic Dimensions of an Aging Population Research Papers 247, McMaster University.
    5. Johann Fuchs & Doris Söhnlein & Brigitte Weber & Enzo Weber, 2018. "Stochastic Forecasting of Labor Supply and Population: An Integrated Model," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 37(1), pages 33-58, February.
    6. Dudel, Christian & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2020. "Cohort trends in working life expectancies at age 50 in the United States: a register-based study using social security administration data," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106256, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    7. Axel Börsch-Supan & Hendrik Jürges, 2012. "Disability, Pension Reform, and Early Retirement in Germany," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Historical Trends in Mortality and Health, Employment, and Disability Insurance Participatio, pages 277-300, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Taina Leinonen & Pekka Martikainen & Mikko Myrskylä, 2018. "Working Life and Retirement Expectancies at Age 50 by Social Class: Period and Cohort Trends and Projections for Finland," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(2), pages 302-313.
    9. Stephan Dlugosz & Gesine Stephan & Ralf A. Wilke, 2014. "Fixing the Leak: Unemployment Incidence before and after a Major Reform of Unemployment Benefits in Germany," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 15(3), pages 329-352, August.
    10. Axel Börsch-Supan & Irene Ferrari, 2017. "Old-age Labor Force Participation in Germany: What Explains the Trend Reversal among Older Men? And What the Steady Increase among Women?," NBER Working Papers 24044, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Christian Dudel & Mikko Myrskylä, 2017. "Working Life Expectancy at Age 50 in the United States and the Impact of the Great Recession," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 54(6), pages 2101-2123, December.
    12. Hilmar Schneider & Ulf Rinne, 2017. "The labor market in Germany, 2000–2016," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 379-379, July.
    13. Annika Meng, 2012. "Informal Caregiving and the Retirement Decision," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 13(3), pages 307-330, August.
    14. Anette E. Fasang, 2010. "Retirement: Institutional Pathways and Individual Trajectories in Britain and Germany," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, May.
    15. Hale, Jo Mhairi & Dudel, Christian & Lorenti, Angelo, 2020. "Cumulative disparities in the dynamics of working poverty for later-career U.S. workers (2002-2012)," SocArXiv xka5j, Center for Open Science.
    16. Backhaus, Andreas & Barslund, Mikkel, 2021. "The effect of grandchildren on grandparental labor supply: Evidence from Europe," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    17. Coile, Courtney C. & Milligan, Kevin & Wise, David A. (ed.), 2019. "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226619293.
    18. Christine Hagen & Ralf K. Himmelreicher & Daniel Kemptner & Thomas Lampert, 2010. "Soziale Unterschiede beim Zugang in Erwerbsminderungsrente. Eine Analyse auf Basis von Scientific Use Files des Forschungsdatenzentrums der Rentenversicherung," RatSWD Research Notes 44, German Data Forum (RatSWD).
    19. Courtney C. Coile & Kevin Milligan & David A. Wise, 2019. "Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: Working Longer," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number coil-1.
    20. Josephine M Wildman, 2020. "Life-Course Influences on Extended Working: Experiences of Women in a UK Baby-Boom Birth Cohort," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(2), pages 211-227, April.
    21. Mine Kühn & Christian Dudel & Tobias C. Vogt & Anna Oksuzyan, 2017. "Trends in gender differences in health and mortality at working ages among West and East Germans," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2017-009, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    22. Jo M. Hale & Christian Dudel & Angelo Lorenti, 2020. "Cumulative disparities in the dynamics of working poverty for later-career U.S. workers (2002-2012)," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2020-028, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    23. Mark D. Hayward & Daniel T. Lichter, 1998. "A Life Cycle Model of Labor Force Inequality," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 26(4), pages 487-510, May.
    24. Lorenti, Angelo & Dudel, Christian & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2018. "The legacy of the great recession in Italy: a wider geographical, gender, and generational gap in working life expectancy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88302, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Henrik-Alexander Schubert & Christian Dudel, 2024. "Too many men? Subnational population imbalances and male childlessness in Finland," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2024-010, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    2. Henrik-Alexander Schubert & Christian Dudel & Marina Kolobova & Mikko Myrskylä, 2023. "Revisiting the J-shape: human development and fertility in the United States," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-022, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    3. Chiara Heller & Stefanie Sperlich & Fabian Tetzlaff & Siegfried Geyer & Jelena Epping & Johannes Beller & Juliane Tetzlaff, 2022. "Living longer, working longer: analysing time trends in working life expectancy in Germany from a health perspective between 2002 and 2018," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 19(4), pages 1263-1276, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Angelo Lorenti & Christian Dudel & Mikko Myrskylä, 2019. "The Legacy of the Great Recession in Italy: A Wider Geographical, Gender, and Generational Gap in Working Life Expectancy," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(1), pages 283-303, February.
    2. Lorenti, Angelo & Dudel, Christian & Hale, Jo Mhairi & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2020. "Working and disability expectancies at older ages: the role of childhood circumstances and education," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106194, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Lanza Queiroz, Bernardo & Lobo Alves Ferreira, Matheus, 2021. "The evolution of labor force participation and the expected length of retirement in Brazil," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    4. Wallenius, Johanna, 2022. "R(a)ising employment of older individuals," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 23(C).
    5. Pfister, Mona & Lorenz, Svenja & Zwick, Thomas, 2018. "Calculation of pension entitlements in the sample of integrated labour market biographies (SIAB)," FDZ Methodenreport 201801_en, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    6. Antoine Bozio & Clémentine Garrouste & Elsa Perdrix, 2021. "Impact of later retirement on mortality: Evidence from France," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(5), pages 1178-1199, May.
    7. Takashi Oshio & Satoshi Shimizutani & Akiko Oishi, 2023. "Relationship between Social Security Programs and Elderly Employment in Japan," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: The Effects of Reforms on Retirement Behavior, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    8. Richard Rogerson & Johanna Wallenius, 2022. "Shocks, Institutions, and Secular Changes in Employment of Older Individuals," NBER Macroeconomics Annual, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(1), pages 177-216.
    9. Lorenti, Angelo & Jessica, Nisen & Mencarini, Letizia & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2023. "Gendered parenthood-employment gaps in midlife: a demographic perspective across three different welfare systems," SocArXiv gmqd9, Center for Open Science.
    10. James Banks & Carl Emmerson & David Sturrock, 2023. "Are Longer Working Lives a Response to Changing Financial Incentives? Exploiting Micro Panel Data from the UK," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: The Effects of Reforms on Retirement Behavior, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. John S. Heywood & Uwe Jirjahn, 2016. "The hiring and employment of older workers in Germany: a comparative perspective [Die Beschäftigung und Neueinstellung älterer Arbeitnehmer in Deutschland: Eine vergleichende Perspektive]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 49(4), pages 349-366, December.
    12. OSHIO Takashi & SHIMIZUTANI Satoshi & OISHI Akiko, 2019. "Addressing the Institutional Disincentives to Elderly Employment in Japan," Discussion papers 19080, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    13. Mark Hayward & Melonie Heron, 1999. "Racial inequality in active life among adult americans," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 36(1), pages 77-91, February.
    14. repec:iab:iabfme:201801(en is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Angelo Lorenti & Jessica Nisén & Letizia Mencarini & Mikko Myrskylä, 2023. "Gendered parenthood-employment gaps in midlife: a demographic perspective across three different welfare systems," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2023-013, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    16. Philip Sauré & Arthur Seibold & Elizaveta Smorodenkova & Hosny Zoabi, 2023. "Occupations Shape Retirement across Countries," CESifo Working Paper Series 10365, CESifo.
    17. Lorenti, Angelo & Dudel, Christian & Myrskylä, Mikko, 2018. "The legacy of the great recession in Italy: a wider geographical, gender, and generational gap in working life expectancy," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 88302, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Courtney Coile, 2023. "Changing Retirement Incentives and Retirement in the US," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: The Effects of Reforms on Retirement Behavior, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Courtney Coile, 2022. "Social Security and Retirement Around the World: Lessons from a Long-Term Collaboration," Working Papers 2022-02, FEDEA.
    20. Jiaxin Shi & Christian Dudel & Christiaan Monden & Alyson A. van Raalte, 2022. "Inequalities in retirement lifespan in the United States," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-015, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    21. Axel Börsch-Supan & Courtney Coile, 2023. "Introduction and Summary, "Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World: The Effects of Reforms on Retirement Behavior"," NBER Chapters, in: Social Security Programs and Retirement around the World: The Effects of Reforms on Retirement Behavior, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:wpaper:wp-2021-018. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Peter Wilhelm (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.