|
05/02/2008
French Employment Ministry researchers have tried to explore the link between the hardships of work and early separation from the workforce using the findings of the 2003 Health Survey done in France by INSEE.
In 2003, a quarter of France’s older persons (aged 50 to 59) were out of the labour force, either fully retired, on early retirement, registered unemployed or economically inactive.
Most who had taken early retirement or a bridging pension are public sector workers who had more often been exposed to shift and night work. In general, they thought themselves healthy compared to the other categories.
Manual workers are more likely to be registered unemployed or economically inactive, notes the study.
Most unemployed or economically inactive older persons are manual workers who had previously worked in industry, building, and consumer services, where they had been exposed to many physical hardships during their career. They had high exposure to gruelling work, especially carrying heavy loads and work in painful positions.
Their perception of their health is particularly negative: 38% report "average" and 15% “poor” health, against 20% and 3% for early pensioners and 26% and 4% for all French fifty-somethings, respectively.
|
