If we are to believe the report “Life expectancy, length of time spent in retirement” co-written by Virginie Andrieux and Cécile Chantel, of the Department of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics (DREES), we are not all equal when it comes to life expectancy once we retire. To write this report, DREES researchers studied a panel of 35,000 people born in 1942 to calculate life expectancy at age 55. According to this report, “retired women can expect to live 6.4 years longer than men. Male former executives have an increased life expectancy of 3.3 years compared to that of former workers. And the former women managers, 2.3 years compared to the former workers. “
“These differences are due to exposure to the risks of accidents and occupational diseases differentiated from one category to another, but also to disparities in terms of behavior with regard to health and living conditions. Conversely, a poor state of health can harm a professional career and prevent access to the most privileged statuses, ”explain Virginie Andrieux and Cécile Chantel.
There are also differences depending on the type of career: according to this study, short careers are associated with reduced life expectancies (1.4 years for men and 0.6 years for women. “But for men, a shortened career is often explained by health problems or disability. “add the authors of the study.” For women this link is less obvious because short careers often have their origin in work interruptions or part-time work related to the education of children ”.
