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Learning in late career stages in Europe – gendered effects of retirement policies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 April 2020

Kirsti Melesk Open the ORCID record for Kirsti Melesk [Opens in a new window]
Kirsti Melesk*
Affiliation:
Praxis Centre for Policy Studies, Tallinn, Estonia School of Governance, Law and Society, Tallinn University, Tallinn, Estonia
*
*Corresponding author. Email: kirsti.melesk@praxis.ee
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Abstract

Institutional contexts shape learning participation throughout the course of life. Combining micro-data on adult education from 26 European countries with country-level indicators on retirement systems in multi-level logistic regression models, the focus is on analysis of participation in non-formal learning among people aged 50–64 and its interactions with retirement policies. The analysis makes use of the largest sample of European countries used so far for exploring the issue. For the first time, gender differences in retirement policies are considered. The results imply that for all women and highly educated men, participation in non-formal training is higher when retirement age in the country is set at 65 years or higher. However, men with less education do not profit from a higher retirement age because their training participation remains unaffected by retirement policies. In the current analysis, training participation in older age groups remains unaffected by the generosity of pensions. The results outline gender differences in learning participation in older age groups. Also, after the age of 50, men with a low education are at particular risk of labour market exclusion and unemployment because the retirement age in European countries keeps rising and technological advancements make additional demands on workers’ skills.

Keywords

adult education and trainingmulti-level modellingolder workersretirement policiesgender
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 41 , Issue 10 , October 2021 , pp. 2191 - 2213
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Cambridge University Press.

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