RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 92 THE AGEING WORKFORCE IN IRELAND October 2019 WORKING CONDITIONS, HEALTH AND EXTENDING WORKING LIVES IVAN PRIVALKO, HELEN RUSSELL AND BERTRAND MAÎTRE FO NCE R PO DE LI VI C E Y THE AGEING WORKFORCE IN IRELAND: WORKING CONDITIONS, HEALTH AND EXTENDING WORKING LIVES Ivan Privalko Helen Russell Bertrand Maître October 2019 RESEARCH SERIES NUMBER 92 Available to download from www.esri.ie © The Economic and Social Research Institute Whitaker Square, Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2 ISBN 978-0-7070-0504-1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26504/rs92.pdf This Open Access work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. ABOUT THE ESRI The mission of the Economic and Social Research Institute is to advance evidence- based policymaking that supports economic sustainability and social progress in Ireland. ESRI researchers apply the highest standards of academic excellence to challenges facing policymakers, focusing on 12 areas of critical importance to 21st century Ireland. The Institute was founded in 1960 by a group of senior civil servants led by Dr T.K. Whitaker, who identified the need for independent and in-depth research analysis to provide a robust evidence base for policymaking in Ireland. Since then, the Institute has remained committed to independent research and its work is free of any expressed ideology or political position. The Institute publishes all research reaching the appropriate academic standard, irrespective of its findings or who funds the research. The quality of its research output is guaranteed by a rigorous peer review process. ESRI researchers are experts in their fields and are committed to producing work that meets the highest academic standards and practices. The work of the Institute is disseminated widely in books, journal articles and reports. ESRI publications are available to download, free of charge, from its website. Additionally, ESRI staff communicate research findings at regular conferences and seminars. The ESRI is a company limited by guarantee, answerable to its members and governed by a Council, comprising 14 members who represent a cross-section of ESRI members from academia, civil services, state agencies, businesses and civil society. The Institute receives an annual grant-in-aid from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform to support the scientific and public interest elements of the Institute’s activities; the grant accounted for an average of 30 per cent of the Institute’s income over the lifetime of the last Research Strategy. The remaining funding comes from research programmes supported by government departments and agencies, public bodies and competitive research programmes. Further information is available at www.esri.ie. THE AUTHORS Helen Russell is an Associate Research Professor at the ESRI and an Adjunct Professor at Trinity College Dublin. She is Deputy Head of the Social Research division at the ESRI and is the principal investigator on the joint ESRI/HSA research programme, Health, Safety and Well-being at Work. Ivan Privalko is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI). Bertrand Maître is a Senior Research Officer at the ESRI and Adjunct at Trinity College Dublin. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report is published as part of the ESRI and the Health and Safety Authority’s (HSA) research programme, Health, Safety and Well-being at Work. The authors are grateful to the members of the ESRI/HSA research steering group, Nuala Flavin (HSA), Robert Roe (HSA), Sharon McGuinness (HSA), Anne Drummond (UCD), James Phelan (UCD and HSA) and Anne Nolan (ESRI), who gave generously of their time and expertise and provided helpful discussions and comments throughout the research and drafting process. The final draft of the report was also enhanced by insightful comments from two ESRI reviewers, an anonymous external reviewer and staff members of the HSA. We also thank the two anonymous peer reviewers and our colleagues Emer Smyth and Alan Barrett, who provided valuable comments. Neither the HSA nor the ESRI is responsible for the content of the report, which is the independent work of the authors. The paper has been accepted for publication by the Institute, which does not itself take institutional policy positions. All ESRI Research Series reports are peer-reviewed. The authors are solely responsible for the content and the views expressed Table of Contents | iii TABLE OF CONTENTS GLOSSARY..................................................................................................................................... VIII EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................................................................................IX CHAPTER 1........................................................................................................................................1 1.1 OLDER WORKERS IN IRELAND ................................................................................................1 1.2 DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGE .......................................................................................................2 1.3 UNDERSTANDING AGEING.....................................................................................................3 1.4 PUSH AND PULL FACTORS IN EARLY EXITS FROM EMPLOYMENT ...........................................4 1.4.1 Health 4 1.4.2 Working conditions 5 1.4.3 Caring responsibilities 6 1.4.4 Household income and resources 6 1.5 HEALTH, WORK-RELATED ILLNESS AND WORK .......................................................................7 1.6 WORK-RELATED ILLNESS AND OLDER WORKERS ....................................................................9 1.7 WORK-RELATED INJURY....................................................................................................... 10 1.8 IRISH POLICY CONTEXT ........................................................................................................ 10 1.8.1 Retirement age 11 1.8.2 Employment policy 12 1.8.3 Working hours/flexible working 13 1.9 STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT ................................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER 2...................................................................................................................................... 15 2.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 15 2.2 AGE COMPOSITION OF THE LABOUR FORCE IN IRELAND ..................................................... 15 2.3 WORKING CONDITIONS OF OLDER WORKERS ...................................................................... 22 2.3.1 Employment contract 22 2.3.2 Working time 24 2.3.3 Country differences in the work conditions among older workers 28 2.4 HEALTH AND WORKING CONDITIONS OF OLDER WORKERS ................................................. 30 2.4.1 Perceived job longevity/sustainability 34 2.5 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 40 CHAPTER 3...................................................................................................................................... 41 3.1 OCCUPATIONS, AND SECTORS OF OLDER WORKERS ............................................................ 41 3.2 RETENTION RATES ............................................................................................................... 43 3.2.1 Retention rates by sector 45 3.2.2 Retention rates by occupation 47 3.3 REASONS FOR EARLY EXITS FROM EMPLOYMENT ................................................................ 49 3.3.1 Exits due to job loss 52 3.3.2 Caring/family exits 53 3.3.3 Exits due to illness/disability 54 3.4 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 56 CHAPTER 4...................................................................................................................................... 57 4.1 FATALITIES TRENDS ............................................................................................................. 58 4.2 WORKER FATALITY RATES BY AGE ....................................................................................... 60 4.3 WORKER FATALITY RATES BY AGE AND SECTOR ................................................................... 62 4.4 MODELLING FATALITIES ACROSS ECONOMIC SECTORS AND WORKERS AGE ........................ 63 4.5 CIRCUMSTANCES OF FATAL INJURIES .................................................................................. 65 4.6 SUMMARY ....................................................................................................................... 66 CHAPTER 5...................................................................................................................................... 67 5.1 WORKING CONDITIONS OF OLDER WORKERS ...................................................................... 68 5.2 RETENTION RATES ACROSS INDUSTRIES AND SECTORS ........................................................ 69 5.3 DRIVERS OF EARLY EXIT ACROSS OCCUPATIONS AND INDUSTRIES ....................................... 70 5.4 FATAL INJURIES AT WORK ..................................................................................................