The Paid and Unpaid Working Life Expectancy at 50 in Europe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariane Ophir
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Family Caregiving ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Working Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Older Adulthood ◽  
Paid And Unpaid Work

Abstract Objectives Amid growing concerns about the economic implications of population aging and the sustainability of older adults’ working life, unpaid family care work receives less attention despite its direct relevance to population aging. This paper systematically compares the paid and unpaid working life expectancy at age 50 to understand the overlap and trade-off between paid and unpaid work among older European adults. Method Using data from the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) with the Sullivan method, the paper presents gender differences across 17 countries in life expectancy at age 50 at various paid (employment) and unpaid (caregiving) role configurations. Results When work is defined to include unpaid family caregiving, women and men have similar working life expectancies at age 50, in contrast to prior research. However, its paid and unpaid components are gendered. The results also show that at age 50, women are expected to spend similar number of years providing grandchild care and ADL/IADL care and that most of these years take place after retirement. Discussion The results highlight that the gendered tension between paid and unpaid work persists into older adulthood and needs to be accounted for in working life expectancy measures. The results also underscore the gendered implications of population aging and unpaid work in older adulthood for retirement age policies and strategies for promoting gender equality in later life.

scholarly journals Injustice Squared? An Intersectional Lens to Research on Productive Engagement in Later Life

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 24-24
Author(s):  
Christina Matz ◽  
Cal Halvorsen ◽  
Jacquelyn James
Keyword(s):  
Asian American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
Older Workers ◽  
Social Inequalities ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Longitudinal Association ◽  
Paid And Unpaid Work

Abstract Social inequalities over the life course shape later life opportunities and outcomes in important ways. However, research on paid and unpaid work in later life has not always captured (and has sometimes mischaracterized) the variety and complexity of lived experiences in later life—in particular for low-income workers, workers of color, women, and others marginalized due to their social position. Further, statistics often obscure the most important information: how the most marginalized older workers are faring. Intersectionality, a term coined by legal scholar, Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw, describes the overlapping and intersecting social identities that often influence how we move around in society. Some identities garner privilege and power and others oppression and marginalization; we must look at their intersection to better understand complexity and inform solutions. This symposium will apply an intersectional lens to research on paid and unpaid work in later life. The first paper is a scoping review that assesses the extent to which race and ethnicity are investigated in studies of the longitudinal association between workplace demands and cognitive health. The second paper explores how older Black and Hispanic adults’ work engagement is impacted by COVID-19. The third paper considers gender differences in volunteer engagement among Asian-American older adults. The final paper examines the Senior Community Service Employment Program’s role in participant financial, physical, and mental well-being. A discussant will reflect on these studies and the need for continued research that considers intersectionality in opportunities and experiences for paid and unpaid work in later life.

scholarly journals Configurations of Care Work: Paid and Unpaid Elder Care in Italy and the Netherlands

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Glucksmann ◽  
Dawn Lyon
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Family Care ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Voluntary Sector ◽  
The State ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Public Provision ◽  
Unpaid Care ◽  
Paid And Unpaid Work

Most current sociological approaches to work recognise that the same activity may be undertaken within a variety of socio-economic forms - formal or informal, linked with the private market, public state or not-for-profit sectors. This article takes care of the elderly as an exemplary case for probing some of the linkages between paid and unpaid work. We attempt to unravel the interconnections between forms of care work undertaken in different socio-economic conditions in two settings, the Netherlands and Italy. The research is part of a broader programme concerned with differing interconnections and overlaps between work activities. In this article, we are concerned with: 1) how paid and unpaid care work map on to four ‘institutional’ modes of provision - by the state, family, market, and voluntary sector; and 2) with the configurations that emerge from the combination of different forms of paid and unpaid work undertaken through the different institutions. Despite the centrality of family-based informal care by women in both countries, we argue that the overall configurations of care are in fact quite distinct. In the Netherlands, state-funded care services operate to shape and anchor the centrality of family as the main provider. In this configuration, unpaid familial labour is sustained by voluntary sector state-funded provision. In Italy, by contrast, there is significant recourse to informal market-based services in the form of individual migrant carers, in a context of limited public provision. In this configuration, the state indirectly supports market solutions, sustaining the continuity of family care as an ideal and as a practice.

Population Aging and Health Expenditures in EU Member States

2021 ◽  
pp. 138-148
Author(s):  
Omer Faruk Ozturk
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Health Expenditures ◽  
Causality Analysis ◽  
Causal Interaction ◽  
Fertility Rates ◽  
Member States ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Aging And Health

All the countries are faced with the population aging resulting from the rising life expectancy and decreasing fertility rates at the present time and in turn have experienced many social and economic implications. In this research, the authors explore the causal interaction between population aging and health expenditures in a sample of EU member economies during the 2000-2018 period through Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality analysis. The causality analysis revealed a unilateral causality from health expenditures to population aging.

Demographic Dimensions of Global Aging

2000 ◽  
Vol 21 (5) ◽  
pp. 541-558 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEVIN KINSELLA
Keyword(s):  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Oldest Old ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Health Trends ◽  
Institutional Responses ◽  
First Time ◽  
Global Aging

Population aging in the 20th century represents a human success story; for the first time in history, populations have the luxury of aging. Aging, however, also poses a myriad of challenges to public and private institutions that must adapt to a changing age structure. This article highlights national and regional similarities and differences in the global aging process, focusing on demographic and health trends that are likely to shape future institutional responses in the eldercare arena. Among the topics considered are the importance of past fertility patterns, changes in life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, the feminization of later life, the growth of the “oldest old,” and changing national disease profiles associated with the epidemiological transition.

How the type of working day affects work–life balance and mealtime balance: A study based on the time use survey

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 1082-1103
Author(s):  
Ángel Alonso-Domínguez ◽  
Javier Callejo ◽  
Cecilia Díaz-Méndez
Keyword(s):  
Time Use ◽  
Family Life ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Time Use Survey ◽  
Working Day ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Paid And Unpaid Work

How people balance work and personal or family life has been widely examined, showing gender inequalities that put women at a disadvantage relative to men. However, although this is a question of time compatibility, there has been no research on whether the type of working day (continuous or split) has different effects on this balance for men and women. The Time Use Survey enables us to examine this balance in two areas that are key to understanding the difficulty of reconciling timetables. On the one hand, there is the relationship between the type of working day and housework or family care (balance between paid and unpaid work). On the other hand, there is the relationship between the type of working day and eating (mealtime balance). The data indicate that the type of working day affects the balance between paid and unpaid work less than might be expected, since in all cases, it is women who do more unpaid work, while men’s involvement in housework changes little, whether they have a continuous or a split working day. However, the continuous working day is more favourable to balancing work and family life. In contrast, work–mealtime balance is a cultural feature that equalises both sexes in relation to an established habit that encourages sharing time outside work. We can thus speak of shared (non-work) time and unshared (unpaid) work.

Population Aging and Economic Growth in EU Member States

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-96
Author(s):  
Yilmaz Bayar ◽  
Aysun Karamikli
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Causality Analysis ◽  
Member States ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Social ◽  
Aging Phenomenon

The improvements in economic development, living standards, and the health sector have raised the life expectancy on the world. The rising life expectancy together with decreasing fertility rates have led to population aging. The population aging phenomenon has led the researchers to explore the social and economic implications of population aging in different countries and country groups. In the chapter, the authors explore the causality between population aging and economic growth in EU member states during the period of 1996-2019 through causality analysis and revealed a reciprocal causality between population aging and economic growth.

scholarly journals Pathways of participation in paid and unpaid work in mid to later life in the United Kingdom

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Lawrence B. Sacco ◽  
Laurie M. Corna ◽  
Debora Price ◽  
Karen Glaser
Keyword(s):  
Latent Class ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Logistic Models ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Unpaid Work ◽  
Active Ageing ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
Time Work ◽  
Paid And Unpaid Work

Abstract Policy responses to population ageing have focused on lengthening working lives, overlooking inequalities in older adults’ participation in unpaid activities. This paper examines participation in paid and unpaid activities between the ages of 55 and 70 to answer two questions: how do people navigate pathways of paid work, informal care, volunteering, civic participation and housework in mid to later life?; and how do these pathways relate to gender, socio-economic and health inequalities? Two-staged latent class analysis was used to identify activity pathways using data from the British Household Panel Survey (1996–2008). Multinomial logistic models assessed associations between latent pathways and socio-demographic and health characteristics. Three pathways were observed: full-time work to low activity (49%), part-time and in-home work (34%) and multiple activities (16%). Aside from retirement from full-time work, the pathways of participation in paid and unpaid activities were characterised by continuity; substitution between different forms of paid and unpaid work was not observed. Participation in multiple paid and unpaid activities was more common for respondents in better health and of higher socio-economic status. Since the promotion of paid work and volunteering in later life may mainly benefit individuals in advantaged circumstances, policies should avoid taking a blanket approach to encouraging participation in multiple activities, a key component of active ageing.

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