Cohorts’ Working Life Expectancies and Working Years Lost in 21 European Countries

Across Europe, the extension of working lives has been a central policy goal for more than three decades. Working life expectancy (WLE) and working years lost (WYL) are well-suited demographic indicators for assessing a country's progress toward achieving this goal. This article reviews all previous estimates of WLE and WYL for European countries and then uses the largest available micro-level dataset to estimate and project WLE and WYL for cohorts of men and women aged 55-64 and 65-74 in 21 European countries. The findings indicate that WLE has generally increased, most rapidly in Central and Eastern Europe and in Western Europe. Northern European countries reach the highest levels of WLE. However, country and gender differences remain large, especially when WLE is adjusted for working hours. Correlational analyses suggest that higher WLE has been gained primarily from successive birth cohorts losing fewer working years to retirement. Over the coming years, the remaining WYL to retirement and to inactivity among women will constitute the main barriers to the extension of working lives in Europe.