EU working life increases two years in past decade

The European Union said on Monday that the expected duration of working life in the 28-member bloc stood at 35.4 years on average in 2015, up by 1.9 years compared with 2005.

According to Eurostat, the statistical office of the EU, between 2005 and 2015, the expected duration of working life has increased across all members, albeit to different extents. The average working life was in 2015 expected to be the longest in Sweden (41.2 years), ahead of the Netherlands (39.9 years) and Denmark (39.2 years).

In contrast, working life was expected to last less than 33 years in Italy (30.7 years), Bulgaria (32.1 years), Greece (32.3 years), Belgium, Croatia, Hungary and Poland (32.6 years each) as well as Romania (32.8 years).

Duration of working life was expected in 2015 to be longer for men (37.9 years) than for women (32.8 years) in all member states, except Lithuania.

The overall increase in duration of working life is generally driven across member states by the change in women's duration of working life. Over this 10-year period, duration of working life has increased more rapidly for women (2.6 years) than for men (1.2 years).

This indicator "duration of working life" measures the number of years a person aged 15 is expected to be active, either employed or unemployed, in the labor market throughout his/her life. Endit