Abstract
Over the last decades, labour participation rates of older adults have increased in the Netherlands and people have extended their working lives from below age 61 in the early 1990s to age 64.4 in 2016. With the increase of the statutory retirement age in the coming years, it is expected that workers will extend their working lives even further. A good health is important to allow for extending working lives.
This thesis aims to provide insight in the health of the older working population, the older working-age population and former workers in the Netherlands, during times when labour participation rates have increased and people are working until older ages. This insight is necessary to express expectations for health of the future older working population, and to prevent or limit any problems associated with extending working lives.
Three themes are addressed in this thesis: I. Historical trends in working life expectancy in poor health of the older working population from 1992 to 2016; II. Historical trends in working conditions and health of the older working population from 1992 to 2016; III. Future health of the older working-age population up until 2040. By examining these themes, three datasets are used: The Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) (theme I and II), the Dutch Health Interview Survey from and the Dutch Public Health Monitor (theme III).
The findings of this thesis show that with the extension of working lives of successive cohorts, the WLE in poor health increased and physical and psychological health of older workers deteriorated. Cognitive functioning improved. The findings also suggest that workers with unfavourable working conditions are at risk to suffer disproportionally from the policies that encourage the extension of working lives, also after work exit. For future generations, further extension of working lives is foreseen. I argued why I expect that physical, psychological and self-rated health of the future older working population will continue to deteriorate.
These findings emphasize the importance of supporting older workers, and in particular those with unfavourable working conditions, in order to remain sustainably employable. A life course approach, in which people are supported to stay healthy and employable throughout their working life, seems to hold the most promise. For optimal support, more research into the effectiveness of interventions is needed. Moreover, monitoring health of the older working population and the older working-age population is crucial in the next few years, because with the increase in the statutory retirement age we are entering new territory. The ‘(un)healthy working life expectancy’ could be used as an indicator to monitor the health of the working population in the coming years, under the condition that suitable data becomes available.
Original language | English |
---|---|
Qualification | PhD |
Awarding Institution |
|
Supervisors/Advisors |
|
Award date | 22 Apr 2021 |
Place of Publication | Enschede |
Publisher | |
Print ISBNs | 9789464191530 |
Publication status | Published - 22 Apr 2021 |