Self-Assessed Social and Health Determinants of Working Life Expectancyin Agricultural Mechanics

Introduction: The global trend of population ageing and transformation of professional routes of young people in the agro-industrial complex make the study of effects of social and health factors on working life expectancy of agricultural equipment operators especially relevant. Objective: To establish subjective social and health-related factors influencing the decision to continue working as agricultural mechanics by age groups. Materials and methods: In 2023–2024, we established the work ability index (n = 121), conducted an empirical sociological quantitative study (n = 102) and a qualitative sociological study (in-depth interview, n = 28) of agricultural mechanics. Results: Three blocks of determinants of working life expectancy have been established as follows: 1. Socioeconomic, including marital status, income, housing and living conditions. Quantitative data indicate that 75 % of the respondents have families, 59 % live with children or grandchildren, 45 % own a private house with a personal subsidiary farm, and 45 % live in an apartment. Per capita income of 50 % of the respondents varies from 20 to 35 thousand rubles and of 32 % – from 36 to 50 thousand rubles. 2. Psychological and physiological, including job burnout and health. The mean duration of current employment of the respondents equals 31.2 years. The majority (65 %) started working between the ages of 18 to 20, while 32 % of the respondents began working before they turned 18. 3. Motivational. The main reasons to continue working after retirement are extra money (28.9 %) and financial necessity (24.7 %) due to the expected small pension, as well as the opportunity to work owing to the absence of age-related discriminatory practices in agriculture. Conclusions: Health status and working conditions are the determinants of working life expectancy of mechanists of pre-retirement age while motivational factors, such as career growth opportunities, professional development, and salary are of greater value for middle-aged agricultural equipment operators, the number of whom is small.