More and more seniors continue working

Over the past 20 years, the number of people aged 65 to 74 who choose to work has tripled. Older Swedes are among the most employed seniors in Europe – last year, 232,000 seniors worked in Sweden.

In the year 2000, 15 percent of 69-year-olds had wage income. Seventeen years later, this had increased to 28 percent. In 2017, the share of working 65-year-olds had also increased to 58 percent and 38 percent among 67-year-olds.

However, it is often not about full-time work, but rather a combination of work and pension, points out E55. The average number of work hours per week for the 65–74 age group is 26 hours.

According to Maria Larsson, chairperson of SPF Seniorerna, factors such as better health, more people able to work longer, and the postponed reference age for retirement have an impact. At the same time, she notes that the raised reference age is tough for those who have physical difficulties and cannot work longer.

A report from SPF Seniorerna also shows that the economic contribution of employed seniors has increased from 64 billion SEK 20 years ago to 193 billion SEK by 2025.

– The group drives growth and accounts for 17 percent of the development in employment since 2005. Seniors are a fantastic resource for the labor market and for the Swedish economy, says Larsson to Dagens industri.

Stopped by ageism

When divided by gender, significantly more men than women in the 65–74 age group work (26.5 and 18 percent, respectively). The older men are overrepresented in agriculture and forestry and in consultancy services, while women are overrepresented in healthcare and social care.

SPF Seniorerna and Maria Larsson would like to see more older people working but believe they are held back by ageism. She believes employers need to become more flexible in terms of working hours and duties so that more seniors can work. She also believes the age limit for employment protection, LAS, should be raised.