Employment among 60-68 year olds increased across all education levels between 2006 and 2018 in Finland, a study by the Finnish Centre for Pensions (ETK) has shown.

The highest employment rate in this age group was found to be those aged 60-62 with a higher tertiary degree, with 80 per cent of this cohort in employment.

Meanwhile, the lowest employment rate in this age range was among women aged 66-68 with a primary education, at 7 per cent.

“Employment increased in all educational levels during the period under study,” said ETK senior researcher, Anu Polvinen.

“There is little previous research data on employment and educational inequalities in employment near and beyond the old-age retirement age.”

ETK’s study also found that, generally, educational inequalities in employment narrowed in the age groups 60-62 and 66-68 during the review period.

However, they remained unchanged among 63-65 year olds.

Relative inequalities in employment were the lowest among the 60–62 year olds, while the highest educational inequalities in employment were found among the 66–68 year old women.

ETK stated that the narrowing educational inequalities among 60-62 year olds may be partly driven by a decrease in early exit from the labour market via the disability pension and other exit pathways.

Furthermore, unemployment among the elderly had fallen, which may have improved the employment rate of the lower-educated in particular.

The educational inequalities in employment among 63–65 year olds were relatively stable, with the highly-educated remaining more often in employment for a longer time than the low-educated.

Previous studies have also shown educational inequalities in post-retirement working.

Among 66–68 year old men, educational inequalities in employment remained “quite stable”, while narrowing among women of this age cohort.

In this age group, the majority had already retired on an old-age pension and work alongside a pension.

The study highlighted that educational inequalities in employment were larger for women than men, which ETK said could be due to the relatively low employment rate of lower-educated women.

“Employment rates have increased quite fast especially among 60–62 and 66–68 year old women with a secondary and lower tertiary education,” said Polvinen.

“This may be one reason why educational inequalities have narrowed especially among women.”

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