arbiter
JournalsAccount

Career arduousness and [healthy] life expectancy in Europe

Vincent Vandenberghe

Journal of Pension Economics and Finance2025https://doi.org/10.1017/s1474747225100061article
AJG 2ABDC B
Weight
0.50

Abstract

The primary policy response to population aging in advanced economies has been to raise the mandatory retirement age. However, these policies have reignited calls for differentiated retirement ages that take into account variations in work intensity. This paper utilises microdata to examine the relevance and feasibility of this concept in Europe. It first quantifies career arduousness using SHARE wave 7 retrospective ISCO4-digit data on careers in combination with US O*NET working conditions data. Then, using SHARE follow-up data collecting (bad)health and death information about wave 7 respondents, it estimates (healthy) life expectancy by career arduousness decile, combining econometrics and life table methods. Findings reveal a life expectancy gap between the least and most arduous careers of 4to 4.2 years. Healthy life expectancy differences are slightly larger, ranging from 6.9 to 9.1 years. Also, women’s healthy life expectancy seems to be somewhat more impacted by arduousness.

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s1474747225100061

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{vincent2025,
  title        = {{Career arduousness and [healthy] life expectancy in Europe}},
  author       = {Vincent Vandenberghe},
  journal      = {Journal of Pension Economics and Finance},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s1474747225100061},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Career arduousness and [healthy] life expectancy in Europe

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.50

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20
M · momentum0.50 × 0.15 = 0.07
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.