Extended Working Life Policies: International Gender and Health Perspectives

This open access book addresses the current debate on extended working life policy by considering the influence of gender and health on the experiences of older workers. Bringing together an international team of scholars, it tackles issues as gender, health status and job/ occupational characteristics that structure the capacity and outcomes associated with working longer. The volume starts with an overview of the empirical and policy literature; continues with a discussion of the relevant theoretical perspectives; includes a section on available data and indicators; followed by 25 very concise and unique country reports that highlight the main extended working life (EWL) research findings and policy trajectories at the national level. It identifies future directions for research and addresses issues associated with effective policy-making. This volume fills an important gap in the knowledge of the consequences of EWL and it will be an invaluable source for both researchers and policymakers.

Áine Ní Léime is Deputy Director of the Irish Centre for Social Gerontology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. She was Chair of COST Action IS1409, an international research network on Gender, Health and Extended Working Life (2015-2019). Her current research focuses on older workers, gender and extended working life. She is currently Principal Investigator for Ireland on a NORFACE funded project comparing experiences of older workers in Ireland, the Czech Republic, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. She is editor of Gender, Ageing and Extended Working Life: Cross-National Perspectives (2017), a Special Issue of Ageing & Society and several journal articles on these topics.
Jim Ogg is Head of the Ageing Research Unit at the National Pension Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance vieillesse), Paris, France and Honorary Research Fellow at the College of Human and Health Sciences, Swansea University. His research focuses on the sociology of the family in the context of ageing populations, the transition to retirement, social exclusion and housing environments. He is the editor-in-chief of the journal Retraite et Société and was previously the Deputy Editor of Ageing & Society.
Debra Street is Professor of Sociology at the State University of New York at Buffalo, United States of America. Author of 80+ articles, chapters, and working papers; a monograph; and co-editor of three books, Street researches the challenges of aging societies, particularly health and income security over the life course. She is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, an elected member of the National Academy of Social Insurance and recipient of the UB Gender Institute Janice L. Moritz Distinguished Lecturer and the CISP Outstanding Contributions to International Education awards. Street’s research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute on Aging, the International Council for Canadian Studies, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Clary Krekula is Professor of Sociology at Karlstad University. Her research focuses on critical age studies, ageing from an intersectional perspective, and time and temporality. She runs the national network AgeS: The Swedish Research Network on Age. She is currently conducting research on dynamics of inequality across the life course, self-employment later in life and the social and corporeal aspects of dancing among older people. She is co-editor of Gender, Ageing and Extended Working Life. Cross-National Perspectives (2017) and Introduction to Critical Age Studies (2017).
Martina Rasticová is Head of Department of Law and Social Sciences, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University, Brno, Czech Republic. Her recent research is in age management, extended working life and work-life balance.
Monika Bédiová is a Researcher at the Department of Law and Humanity Sciences, Mendel University in Brno, Czech Republic. She has been working on research projects, publishing and her main research areas include diversity management and the issue of active aging in the Czech Republic. She is the co-author of the monograph Work or Retire? (2018).
Ignacio Madero-Cabib is Assistant Professor of Sociology and Public Health at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. He serves as Deputy Director of the Center ’Millennium Nucleus for the study of the Life Course and Vulnerability (MLIV)’ (http: //mliv.cl). His current research focuses on the impact of cumulative social advantages and disadvantages on vulnerability among older people in different countries.