Career arduousness and instability: Both matter for health beyond 50

Abstract

This paper explores the long-term consequences of career arduousness and career instability for both physical and mental health in the European context. One of its strengths is to link what happens during the entire career and the health status at an older age. The paper finds a positive link between career arduousness (i.e. the sum of job demands individuals have been exposed to during their entire career) and late-life mental and physical ill health, but also evidence that career instability (i.e. career gaps, job insecurity, displacements, unemployment spells) could matter as much as arduousness per se. And this has implications for pension policy inter alia.