Policies for longer working lives: understanding interactions with health and care responsibilities

近几十年来，联合王国从事有酬工作的老年人比例一直在稳步上升。2000年，50-64奥尔兹中有60%就业，到2015年，这一比例达到70%。同期，65岁及以上有酬就业人口的比例翻了一番，从5%左右增加到10%。在此期间，老年人口规模的增长意味着从事有酬工作的老年人人数的增加更大。随着人口老龄化和政策改革鼓励人们继续工作更长时间，重要的是要了解更长的工作寿命对老年人口的更广泛影响。我们的研究集中在与更长工作寿命相关的两个重要因素上。首先是对健康的影响。工作到60多岁的人是否因为工作时间延长而健康状况较差？还是工作（以及与之相关的收入）让人们过上更健康、更积极的生活？这个问题很难回答，因为仅仅观察到工人比非工人更健康/更不健康，就不能告诉我们工作对健康的因果影响。健康与就业之间的关系错综复杂。工作的事实可能会改善或恶化一个人的健康。但是，与此同时，如果人们已经身体不适，他们可能就不太可能工作：例如，因为疼痛会阻止他们做过去或想要做的工作。我们的研究将通过一项改革直接研究工作时间延长对健康的影响，这项改革增加了老年工人的就业机会，而对健康没有任何直接影响。这一改革是提高妇女领取国家养恤金的年龄。我们将研究的第二个因素是工作和照顾之间的相互作用，使用一个模型，该模型包含了影响老年人健康，收入和财富的大量因素。我们将利用这一点来了解影响社会护理（非正式护理，公共资助的正式护理和私人资助的正式护理）的需求和接受的因素。我们还将对非正式护理的供应进行建模-即谁提供护理，以及他们提供多少护理（以每周小时数为单位）。然后，我们将使用该模型来了解人们的决定是在有偿工作和决定提供非正式护理之间的相互作用。我们所做的所有研究的基础都是关于工作生活对不同人的影响如何不同的想法，以及它们如何加强或改善现有的健康和收入不平等。这意味着我们不仅要研究工作年限延长对一种健康的影响，还要研究一系列措施，并了解可能对健康产生积极或消极影响的行为。我们将研究可能受到不同影响的人口群体。在护理方面，我们可以看到是否是特定类型的人更需要护理，谁最终提供护理，特别是收入和性别的差异。该提案中概述的所有研究都是与法国、德国和丹麦的研究人员同时进行的。我们一起组成一个财团。我们的欧洲伙伴也是学术研究人员，他们对影响本国老年人的公共政策有着复杂的了解。通过研究每个国家的类似问题，我们将能够通过审查不同政策背景下的行为和结果，增加对这些问题的理解。这将有助于政策制定者了解欧洲各国政府政策的影响。

In recent decades, the proportion of older people in the United Kingdom who are in paid work has been steadily rising. In 2000, 60% of 50-64 year olds were employed and by 2015, 70% of them were. The proportion of people aged 65 and over in paid employment has doubled over the same period, from around 5% to 10%. Growth in the size of the older population over this period means the increases in the numbers of older individuals in paid work are even greater. With an ageing population, and policy reforms that are encouraging people to remain in work longer, it is important to understand the broader effects of longer working lives on the older population. Our research focuses on two important factors related to longer working lives. The first is the effect on health. Do people who work longer into their 60s have lower health because of their extended working life? Or does work (and the income associated with it) allow people to live healthier, more active lives? This question is hard to answer because simply observing that workers are healthier/less healthy than non-workers tells us little about the causal effect of work on health. Health and employment can be related in a complicated way. The fact of working may improve or worsen a person's health. But, at the same time, people may be less likely to work if they are already unwell: for example because pain prevents them from doing the job they used to, or want to, do. Our research will look directly at the effect of working longer on health by using a reform which increased the employment of older workers, without having any direct effect on health. This reform was the increase in the state pension age for women. The second factor that we will examine is the interaction between work and caring, using a model that incorporates a large range of factors that affect the health, income and wealth of the older population. We will use this to understand the factors affecting the need for and receipt of social care (informal care, publicly-funded formal care, and privately-funded formal care). We will also model the supply of informal care - that is, who provides care, and how much they provide (in terms of number of hours per week). We will then use the model to understand the interaction between people's decisions to be in paid work and the decision to provide informal care. Underlying all the research that we do will be the idea of how the effects of working lives can differ for different people, and how they might reinforce or ameliorate existing inequalities in health and income. This means we will not only look at the effect of longer working lives on one type of health, but a range of measures, and understand the behaviours that might have positive or negative impacts on health. We will look at the groups of the population that might be affected differently. In terms of care, we can see whether it is particular types of people who are in greater need of care, and who end up providing care, in particular the differences by income and sex. All of the research outlined in this proposal is being undertaken in parallel with researchers in France, Germany and Denmark. Together we form one consortium. Our European partners are also academic researchers who have intricate knowledge of the public policies affecting older people in their countries. By studying similar questions in each country, we will be able to increase our understanding of these issues by examining behaviour and outcomes in different policy settings. This will help policymakers understand the impacts of government policies across Europe.