British employees stay in work for years longer than most of their European counterparts, a study has shown.
An average Briton works for nearly four decades – the fourth-longest stint in the bloc.
That’s longer – but only just – than even the average employment spans of Germans, usually considered the most dedicated workers in Europe.
An average Briton works for nearly four decades – the fourth-longest stint in the bloc
A typical individual in this country works for 38.8 years, almost half their lives. By contrast, an average French man or woman could expect to spend just 35 years in work, according to 2016 estimates – nearly four years less than someone in Britain.
At the bottom of the European table for years at work came the Italians.
On average, an Italian will be working for 31.2 years, nearly eight years less than a Briton, and well below working lifespans in all of eastern and southern Europe.
Figures collected by the EU’s Eurostat agency suggest that British workers are making up for their notoriously low productivity by working for more years than others. More than one in ten people in this country work on after reaching the traditional male retirement age of 65, a level that has doubled in under 25 years.
That’s longer – but only just – than even the average employment spans of Germans, usually considered the most dedicated workers in Europe
Working lifespans are also increasing in all countries because of the flood of women into the labour market over recent decades and the likelihood that women will stay in jobs longer than in the past, EU officials said. ‘In all EU member states except Latvia and Lithuania, the duration of working life was expected to be longer for men than women,’ Eurostat said.
‘The overall increase in the duration of a working life has generally been driven by the change in the duration of a woman’s working life.’
In 2006 the EU average for a woman’s working life was 30.6 years, rising to 33.1 years in 2016. The EU average for a male working lifespan was 38 years in 2016.
In Britain an average working lifespan has risen by nearly two years since the turn of the Millennium, from 36.9 in 2000 to 38.8 in 2016. The longest working lives recorded by Eurostat are in Sweden, 41.3 years; Denmark, 40.3; and the Netherlands, 40.0.
Patrick Thomson, of the Centre for Ageing Better, said: ‘With UK employers facing large-scale skills and workforce shortages, businesses need to do more to support their current older workers and recruit talented older applicants.’