Employees in higher-level occupations outlive manual workers: How long do they live in retirement or (in)activity?

Authors: Florian Bonnet (INED), Carlo-Giovanni Camarda (INED), Emmanuelle Cambois (INED) et Ophélie Merville (Inserm-University of Caen)

People in higher-level occupations have a longer life expectancy than manual workers but retire later, on average. Which occupational categories spend the most years in retirement? Are any gender differences observed? How do career histories and the pension system affect time spent in retirement? To answer these questions, Florian Bonnet, Carlo-Giovanni Camarda, Emmanuelle Cambois, and Ophélie Merville measure life expectancy across occupational categories at different ages, particularly around retirement ages.

In 2018, life expectancy at age 35 was almost 50 years for men in higher-level occupations versus 44 years for manual workers, a gap of nearly 6 years. These differences remain large at age 62: 3 years 6 months for men and 2 years 8 months for women. Despite a younger retirement age, male manual workers spend 2 fewer years in retirement than men in higher-level occupations and almost 3.4 more years unemployed or inactive.

Moreover, during the years before the legal retirement age, manual workers experience unemployment or inactivity much more frequently than people in higher-level occupations, who are more likely to be employed.

Finally, women spend 3 to 4 more years in retirement than men of the same occupational category but also have more years of inactivity.

Published on: 24/05/2023