Objective Europe’s population is currently the oldest in the world, and it is still ageing. This demographic shift is changing societies in an unprecedented way. Researchers and policy-makers fear that we will now only have sustainable pension schemes and a sufficiently numerous, well-qualified workforce if people work until old age. Consequently, many current policies strive to increase workforce participation and delay retirement. But can such policies for older workers be effective? Life-course scholars argue that experiences have time-delayed effects. What people experience during youth and mid-age influences whether they work in old age. Thus, policies for older workers may intervene at too late an age to make a difference. This study investigates time-delayed effects on older workers. It focuses on the effects of unemployment spells, which are said to scar work biographies and permanently hamper careers. This study uses the life-course perspective and thereby joins the newly emerging group of empirical studies that consider entire work biographies to explain workforce participation in old age. Its unique contribution is that it considers the role of social context in the form of families and economic crisis. Family members often coordinate their workforce participation and retirement timing. Economic crises increase unemployment rates, which affects the meaning and experience of being unemployed. This study compares the “most different cases” of Finland, Germany, Italy, Poland and the United Kingdom. Data stem from life-history interviews in the “Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe”, the “English Longitudinal Study of Ageing”, and a self-administered Finnish survey. The approach combines sequence, cluster, regression and correlation analyses. Findings refine theories on old age, life-courses, labour markets, welfare states, and economic crises. Policymakers can use the insight gained to refine labour market policies. Fields of science humanitieshistory and archaeologyhistorysocial scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementemploymentsocial sciencessociologysocial issuesunemploymenthumanitieslanguages and literatureliterature studieshistory of literature Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-EF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-EF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF Coordinator HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO Net EU contribution € 149 438,00 Address YLIOPISTONKATU 3 00014 Helsingin Yliopisto Finland See on map Region Manner-Suomi Helsinki-Uusimaa Helsinki-Uusimaa Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 149 438,00
