Expectations about working capacity at age 60
Published: 1 March 2009
The Working Conditions Survey [1] is conducted every seven years in France, supplementing the country’s Labour Force Survey. The survey covers workers in employment and is conducted by the Research and Statistics Department (Direction de l’animation de la recherche, des études et des statistiques, DARES [2]) and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE [3]). The latest of these surveys – the 2005 Working Conditions Survey – covered a sample of some 19,000 persons. The 2005 survey did not cover workers in occupations for which the normal retirement age was under 60 years: that is, primary school teachers, nurses, police officers, soldiers and some public sector employees – more specifically, those employed by the French National Rail Company (Société nationale des chemins de fer français, SNCF [4]) and the electricity and gas company EDF-GDF [5].[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/ewco/surveys/national/countries/france[2] http://www.travail-solidarite.gouv.fr/etudes-recherche-statistiques-dares/etudes-recherche/publications-dares/premieres-informations-premieres-syntheses/2008-29.2-sentir-capable-faire-meme-travail-jusqu-60-ans-poids-facteurs-psycho-sociaux.html[3] http://www.insee.fr/[4] http://www.sncf.com/[5] http://www.edf.fr/accueil-fr-1.html
One out of three workers do not feel that they will be able to do their current job when they reach 60 years of age. Women more frequently express this concern, as do retail and service workers, and those in blue-collar jobs. Such workers are also more exposed to painful and tiring positions, monotonous work with poor opportunities to develop new skills, inadequate work equipment and tensions with customers or management. These characteristics are, in turn, strongly correlated with concerns about not being able to do the same work at 60 years of age.
About the survey
The Working Conditions Survey is conducted every seven years in France, supplementing the country’s Labour Force Survey. The survey covers workers in employment and is conducted by the Research and Statistics Department (Direction de l’animation de la recherche, des études et des statistiques, DARES) and the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE). The latest of these surveys – the 2005 Working Conditions Survey – covered a sample of some 19,000 persons. The 2005 survey did not cover workers in occupations for which the normal retirement age was under 60 years: that is, primary school teachers, nurses, police officers, soldiers and some public sector employees – more specifically, those employed by the French National Rail Company (Société nationale des chemins de fer français, SNCF) and the electricity and gas company EDF-GDF.
Based on the results of the 2005 Working Conditions Survey, a study was compiled on the psychosocial factors impacting on workers’ perception of whether or not they will be able to do the same work that they are doing now when they reach 60 years of age (Coutrot, T., Se sentir capable de faire le même travail jusqu'à 60 ans – le poids des facteurs psycho-socios, DARES, July 2008).
Gender differences
The study revealed a small gender difference in this respect, with 32% of men and 36% of women aged between 35 and 55 years replying ‘no’ to the question ‘Do you feel able to do the same job as now at the age of 60 years?’ This gender gap is observed independent of age, occupation, sector or size of the company, as displayed in the table below.
Workers who do not feel they will be able to do the same job at the age of 60 years, by occupation and gender (%)
| Men (%) | Women (%) | All (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Executive staff | 26 | 34 | 29 |
| Intermediate occupations | 30 | 36 | 32 |
| Administrative clerks | 32 | 25 | 29 |
| Retail and service workers | 32 | 43 | 41 |
| Qualified blue-collar workers | 36 | 41 | 37 |
| Non-qualified blue-collar workers | 39 | 42 | 40 |
Note: The results cover employees aged 35–55 years in all economic sectors, with the exception of primary school teachers, nurses, police officers, soldiers and some public sector workers.
Source: French Working Conditions Survey 2005, DARES-INSEE
Common job characteristics
From an occupational perspective, workers who indicate that they won’t be able to do their current job at 60 years of age share a certain number of job characteristics.
For instance, executive staff who cite this feeling more frequently work overtime hours without receiving any compensation in terms of wages or leave, or work irregular working hours, and complain of pressure at work.
Among those who work in intermediate occupations, the main characteristics related to this feeling are as follows: receiving contradictory orders, a lack of equipment to do the job, exposure to tiring positions held for a long period of time and the lack of opportunity to develop new skills.
Administrative employees who report this feeling often have to stand for long periods of time as part of their work or they cite difficulties in providing quality work while coping with delays and a shortage of proper office equipment.
Retail and service workers account for the highest proportion of workers who feel that they will not be able to do the same job as now when they are 60 years of age. This feeling is associated with the following job characteristics: painful or tiring work positions; inappropriate work equipment; working under pressure and with frequent interruptions; experiencing tense situations with customers; monotonous work that offers few possibilities to develop new skills; and lack of support from management. Regarding situations of tension, the results show a noticeable correlation between the feeling of not being able to do the same job at 60 years of age and tensions in face-to-face relations. This correlation is not observed in relation to tensions in phone contacts, suggesting that the latter has less impact on this feeling. The impact of monotonous work appears to be reduced when the workers rotate their tasks.
Blue-collar workers – both qualified and non-qualified workers – who report this feeling appear to be more concerned about employment issues: they are the only group of workers showing a statistically meaningful correlation between the feeling of not being able to do the same work at 60 years of age and the risk of losing their job within the next 12 months. Regarding working conditions among this group of workers, this feeling is related to painful and tiring positions, irregular working times, monotonous work with few opportunities to develop new skills, a lack of the appropriate means to do the work and tensions with management.
Commentary
It is worth noting that, in a study (in French) based on the results of the 2004 Share Survey, it was shown that the psychosocial factors identified by the researchers Karasek and Siegrist – namely, factors relating to demand, control, support and reward – have an impact on the health of older workers. They also underline noticeable gender differences, related to the different work and employment patterns between men and women.
Anne-Marie Nicot, ANACT
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2009), Expectations about working capacity at age 60, article.
