The Length of Working Life in Germany: A New Perspective on Cumulative (Dis)Advantages in the German Labor Market

Christian Dudel , Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research
Sebastian Kluesener, Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB)
Elke Loichinger, Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB)
Harun Sulak, Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB)
Mikko Myrskylä, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research and London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

The German population and the German workforce are aging rapidly. In aging societies the length of working life is a key policy indicator, and several policy measures have been aimed at increasing working life expectancy in Germany in recent years. In this paper, we use data of the German Microcensus and study how the length of working life has developed. Moreover, we analyze inequalities in working life expectancy by gender, region (eastern/western Germany), and educational attainment. Our ?ndings show that working life expectancy has been increasing. This increase has been at least partly driven by changing educational attainment of the population, in combination with a longer working life for higher educated individuals. Inequalities in working life expectancy are substantial. While high educated western German men can expect 42.3 years of employment, it is only 20.5 years for eastern German women with low educational attainment.

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 Presented in Session 38. Ageing and Retirement