Changes in Job Quality as People Work Beyond Pensionable Age in Sweden

Abstract Large numbers of people remain in paid work after pensionable age, often in bridge jobs or with reduced working hours. Remarkably, knowledge about the quality of these jobs relative to those taken prior to pension eligibility is very limited. In this paper, we examined changes in job quality among workers in their sixties in the context of contemporaneous changes in work intensity and employment characteristics. This study is based on data from the biennial Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH, 2006–2018, n = 1890–3013). Job quality outcomes were physical (dangerous, strenuous or unpleasant work) and psychosocial (job strain, effort-reward imbalance, work time control) working conditions and job satisfaction. First difference estimation was used to observe within-individual wave-to-wave changes in job quality over ages 61/62–69/70. Changes in working hours, employment characteristics (shifting to a non-permanent contract, the private sector and self-employment) and health were included as covariates. The typical individual who worked beyond pensionable age experienced statistically significant improvements in job quality. Improvements in psychosocial working conditions and job satisfaction were larger for those who reduced working hours and shifted from permanent to non-permanent contracts, from the public into the private sector and from wage-and-salary to self-employment. Work beyond pensionable age is a distinctive period, characterized by employment that becomes more flexible and rewarding and less stressful. These improvements are a function of older individuals’ preferences and ability to work fewer hours and transition to new lines of work.