The index grew by four months in comparison with the year before last, and by three years if compared with early 2000s.
“In practice, men work longer than women. If the stronger sex has to work for about 38.6 years throughout their lives, then for women this figure is 33.7 years,” the statistic review notes.
The largest gender gap is observed in Norway, where the difference reaches 10 years. There are countries in which job seniority is the same for both sexes. Men and women spend on average 36.7 years of their lives for work in Latvia and Lithuania.
People in Sweden, most of all in Europe, work regardless of gender for 41.9 years. The Swedes are followed by the Norwegians: their total work experience exceeds 40.5 years. Denmark closes the top three; people retire there after 39.9 years.
A high level of workload is a national feature of the Scandinavian countries, notes Keith Boyfield, a senior research associate at the London Centre for Policy Studies. According to him, the highest level of retirement is observed in these countries.
“In Norway, men retire at 67 and women at 64. All residents of Denmark retire only at the age of 65. Local people start working at the age of 16-17. Working from youth to old age is a standard practice for citizens of Scandinavia,” the source of Gazeta.Ru explains.
Despite the fact that the most industrious Europeans live in Scandinavian countries, the government is thinking about the retirement age raise, the expert adds. For instance, the Danish authorities plan to increase this figure to 72 years by 2035. Those, who have the right to early retirement, will begin to go on a well-deserved rest later as well. If the military and employees of hazardous industries retire now at 60, in the future they will be able to stop working only upon reaching the age of 66.
The situation in Norway is similar, the government intends the retirement age raise for women to 67 years by 2030; however, the increase will not affect men.
“Thus, the authorities are trying to solve the problem with life expectancy increase and the demographic tendency of an aging population. Denmark occupies the 190th place in the world in birth rate. Therefore, an overwhelming working efficiency of Scandinavian people is also explained with the fact that there is often no one to work there,” says Keith Boyfield.
Traditionally, the representatives of the Mediterranean states work less than others, the European Statistical Agency concerns. For example, Italians work about 31.8 years on average. Also among the least able-bodied Europeans are Croats (32.4 years) and Greeks (32.9 years).
Despite the debt crisis, the Greeks work even less in recent years, according to Eurostat. The residents gave their employers 34.8 years of their lives in 2010 and about 33.5 years in 2015.
“Most able-bodied Greeks have already left for work in more affluent EU countries, for example, Germany. As a result, a more aged population stayed in the country, which influenced the total length of employment,” explained Boyfield.
However, a low working capacity in Italy, the leader of the list, is due to high unemployment, the expert argues. Over the past six months of the year the unemployment rate rose to 10.6%, according to the Italian Bureau of Statistics ISTAT.
And most often, young graduates cannot find work. More than 40% of young people from 18 to 25 years of age have no permanent income. According to Anna, who moved to Venice last year, it was quite difficult to get a job without a good recommendation.
Eurostat statistics also provide data on several countries that are not members of the European Union. In particular, a 15-year-old resident of Turkey can count on working life lasting only 29.4 years, and the Icelander will work 46.3 years, almost 17 years longer.
Source: https://www.gazeta.ru/business/2019/11/25/12831500.shtml
Photos are from open sources.
