From permanent to part-time: the switch can kill

Key points:

• Of the 70 percent of Australians who plan to take some form of retirement, only 23 percent plan to retire fully
• Part-time employment in Australia’s labour force increased by 46,500 to 4,304,800 people in September of 2023
• In 2018 – ‘19, approximately 143,500 people in the labour force had previously retired

A study published in The Journal of Epidemiology and Community has offered insight into how your work/life balance can determine your overall life expectancy.

Researchers from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have found that people without a secure job contract can reduce their risk of premature death by 20 percent if they gain permanent employment.

Theo Bodin, assistant professor at the Karolinska Institute of Environmental Medicine and last author of the study, explained that jobs with short-term contracts, insufficient wages and a lack of influence all lead to a working life without predictability and security.

“This is the first study to show that changing from precarious employment to secure employment can reduce the risk of death,” Bodin said.

“It’s the same as saying that the risk of early death is higher if one keeps working in jobs without a secure employment contract.”

The researchers used registry data from over 250,000 workers in Sweden between the ages of 20 – 55 collected from 2005 – ‘17. The study included people who worked under insecure working conditions and who then shifted to secure working conditions.

Those who switched from insecure to secure employment had a 20 percent lower risk of death, regardless of what happened afterwards, than those who remained in unstable employment.

Notably, for those who remained in secure employment for 12 years, the risk of death decreased by 30 percent.

The authors of the study noted that economic insecurity and material deprivation have been linked to an increased risk of premature mortality. Additionally, unstable employment was tied to irregular working hours, such as shift, night-shift work and long working hours — since the earnings from a standard work week would tend to be insufficient.

Shift work and long working hours were associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular death through the disruption of circadian rhythms and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, linked to increased coagulation, arrhythmia, heavy alcohol consumption and disruption of social and private life.

Assistant Professor Nuria Matilla-Santander, the first author of the study, said the large scale of the study allowed researchers to factor in many variables that could influence mortality, such as age, other diseases that workers can suffer from or life changes like divorce.

“We can be relatively certain that the difference in mortality is due to the precariousness of employment rather than individual factors,” Matilla-Santander said.

“The results are important since they show that the elevated mortality rate observed in workers can be avoided.”

The study has significant consequences for Australians who are thinking about returning to the workforce after retiring. With 42 percent of Australians returning to the labour force after retiring because of ‘financial needs’ — it may be worth considering the gravity of financial planning before retirement.

Approximately one in four older Australians who are still working feel they will never retire, with those in financially insecure or vulnerable positions inclined to feel this way. In addition, one in three older people reported experiencing age-related discrimination whilst seeking employment.

The ‘Great Unretirement,’ as coined by the World Economic Forum, is a global phenomenon wherein older Australians are seeking to return to work in some capacity following their departure from the workforce.

Economics Professor at the London Business School Andrew Scott, said it is ‘crucially important’ to find ways to help older employees stay productive and supporting them is critical.

“Supporting older workers also requires tackling deep-seated corporate ageism that makes it hard for older workers to get new jobs and more likely for them to be fired. Governments need to be proactive in extending disability rights as well as enacting diversity legislation to support and protect older workers.”

Do you work on a part-time basis? If so, how do you financially support your retirement journey? Let the team at Talking Aged Care know!