20-year labour market histories of women and men aged 66: A nationwide Swedish cohort study

Abstract Background To extend working life and maintain work capacity at older ages, a health promoting, sustainable, and inclusive labour market throughout peoples’ working lives is required. To increase knowledge of these processes and identify groups needing targeted support, we mapped 20 years of labour market histories of women and men who recently passed the typical retirement age. Methods A 20-year retrospective cohort study of the 52,920 women and 51,823 men aged 66 in 2019 who lived in Sweden 2000-2019, using microdata on type of economic activity, income level, inpatient and specialized outpatient healthcare use, and prescribed medications, linked from nationwide registers. Sequence- and cluster analysis were performed on yearly dominant labour market states, separately for women and men. Results Women spent more time in low income and sickness absence/disability pension (SA/DP) and less in high income states than men. Time spent in unemployment, low-minimal income, social assistance, and retirement were similar in both sexes. Transition probability between different states were low (<0.1 from SA/DP and on social assistance to active states). The largest sequence cluster included working life sequences with higher than median income in men and with mixed income in women. Clusters representing long unemployment, minimal/no income, or SA/DP consisted of 14%, 17%; 10%, 11%; and 3%, 3% of the women and the men, respectively. Conclusions The majority of women and men in Sweden, had an active working life when aged 46 to 66. However, around 30% of them belonged to less active working clusters, dominated by long-term SA/DP, social assistance, and unemployment and transitions from these states were unlikely. The most pronounced difference between the sexes was the lower income state dominance in women compared to in men among those with active working life history. Key messages • Around 70% of all women and men aged 66 had an active working life history, however, transition from working life clusters with long sickness absence, unemployment and social benefit were unlikely. • The main sex difference was found regarding income level among those who belonged to active working life history clusters, women had lower income than men.