Inactivity because of illness or disability at old age: a European regional perspective.

With a marked ageing of its population, Europe will not only experience a decrease in the dependency ratio of workers to pensioners (which should be approximately divided by two by 2045) but also the “internal” ageing of its labour force. Face to that massive ageing, a generalised later retirement policy agenda, recommending longer active lives (linked to the increases in life expectancy) and restricting the access to early retirement or disability schemes, was adopted by Brussels (European Commission, White Paper 2012). Already implemented in some countries, measures recommended by this policy seek to increase the labour force participation of old age workers in European countries.
Based on Labour Force Surveys of 2006-2010 period, the aim of this study is to analyse, at a regional level, the role of health status on seniors (50 to 69 years old) labour force participation in Europe. This analysis focuses on the inactivity declared to be caused by illness or disability. Most of the interest of the analysis is ported on the differentiation of this state by sex, age, level of education (Isced) and population density, but mostly on its geographical variation, at national and regional levels.