Understanding old-age inequality

The primary goal of this project is to better understand inequality in old age, which might be increasing due to current policies to promote longer working lives. The project examines how work, family and health trajectories before retirement affect (a) people’s retirement transition and (b) their post-retirement economic, social and psychological well-being. It also studies how labour market, pension, and welfare policies aggravate or cushion the influence of work, family and health trajectories.

The project innovatively builds on theoretical insights derived from the life course perspective, namely the notion of path dependency, the cumulative (dis)advantage mechanism and the principle of agency, to arrive at new and testable hypotheses. These will largely be tested by applying advanced analysis techniques to panel and retrospective SHARE(LIFE) data on more than 90,000 older people in 29 European countries.

The project will generate much-needed empirical insights into the drivers of old-age inequality. By identifying vulnerable groups in terms of their work, family and health trajectories and providing insights into their retirement transitions and post-retirement well-being, this project may provide starting points for policy design.