Living longer, working longer: analysing time trends in working life expectancy in Germany from a health perspective between 2002 and 2018
Chiara Heller, Stefanie Sperlich, Fabian Tetzlaff, Siegfried Geyer, Jelena Epping, Johannes Beller, Juliane Tetzlaff
Abstract
= 211,141), time trends in labour force rates, mental and physical Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), self-rated health (SRH) and the respective combinations (health indicator*labour force) were analysed for all respondents aged 18-74. WLE and HWLE were calculated using the Sullivan method. WLE and HWLE in men and women at age 18 and 50 clearly increased over time. These increases in HWLE were found in terms of all three health indicators. This development was mainly driven by the clear increase of the labour force rates, since the shares of individuals with good and satisfactory SRH or average and good HRQoL remained largely stable over time. The results show that from a health perspective there have been potentials for increases in WLE during the past two decades and that increasingly more healthy life years are spent economically active. However, life years in the labour force but in poor health have increased, too. The absence of clear improvements in health emphasises the importance of current and future preventive measures to maintain health, especially among the middle-aged and older labour force. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10433-022-00707-0.