According to a study, men and women of the so-called baby boomer cohorts have been in employment for significantly longer on average than previous generations. In the age range between 55 and 64, men born in Germany in 1955 worked an average of 7.3 years in a paid job, as the Federal Institute for Population Research (BIB) announced in Wiesbaden on Tuesday. Men born in 1941, on the other hand, were employed for an average of only 5.3 years over the corresponding ten-year period.
The working period for women has almost doubled from 2.6 to 4.8 years. There was also an increase, albeit less, for the age range 65 to 74 years. The authors of the study registered the clearest difference among skilled workers and higher skilled workers, and the smallest among lower educational and professional groups.
In addition to political reforms in the area of the labor market and pensions, they see the higher level of education of the baby boomer generation as the cause. The study showed clear East-West differences. Of those born in 1955, West German men had the longest working life at 7.4 years between the ages of 55 and 64.
In contrast, this was lowest for West German women at 4.6 years. East German men and women were in between at 6.8 years and 5.5 years. The scientists see potential for increasing the age from 63 years, especially for women in western Germany. “Whether this potential can be tapped depends on the extent to which staying in the labor market is attractive and possible,” BIB researcher Elke Loichinger is quoted as saying.
Flexible working hours are necessary. Unpaid care work in the family could conflict with paid gainful employment. The study was published in the journal Demography. It was created in cooperation with the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research.