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Keep working! But for how long?
A quarter of a million Swedes are working pensioners, combining paid work with drawing a pension. Yet many people are worn out long before they reach retirement age. So what does a sustainable working life look like if more people are to be able, and willing, to keep working on their own terms beyond retirement?
The willingness and ability to work longer are shaped long before retirement age, according to both Swedish and European research.
A sustainable working life during young adulthood and midlife is crucial if more people are to be able, and willing, to continue working beyond retirement age.
How your working life shapes you as a working pensioner
Researcher Robin Jonsson at Karlstad University is leading a Forte-funded study on who continues working within the growing sector of senior staffing.
– We are examining which groups work as retirees, and whether the reasons for continuing to work are financial or driven by other motivations, he says.
The fact that more and more people choose to keep working later in life is linked to improved health, better work environments, and higher levels of education. Changes in lifestyle and consumption patterns may also play a role, according to Robin.
– But the group of working retirees is not necessarily representative of retirees in general, since continuing to work requires maintained work ability and good health.
Voluntariness important for PRO
Pensioners and the labour market are a new part of an action programme adopted by PRO, the National Pensioners’ Organisation, at its congress in June 2026. Joel Stade is an expert on pensioners’ finances at PRO. He views pensioners working positively, but under certain conditions.
– You earn a bit of money, contribute to society and to taxes, meet colleagues, and do something meaningful. But it needs to be voluntary and not driven by a perceived financial necessity. We have large groups of members who are worn out and cannot work up to the target retirement age of 68, but have to retire earlier. This makes things difficult for them when politicians keep raising the retirement age, he says.
There is a strong link between the early and middle stages of working life and the opportunity to work at an older age.
Anna Brydsten
Associate professor and senior lecturer at Umeå University
Conditions earlier in life determine later working life
The conditions for being able to work at an older age vary depending on earlier stages in working life. This is shown in a Forte-funded study at Umeå University, led by Anna Brydsten. She has researched different phases of working life—youth, midlife, and the transition into retirement—and sees clear recurring patterns across the life course.
– There is a strong link between the early and middle stages of working life and the possibility of working at an older age. A stable attachment to the labour market early in life is one of the strongest indicators of both the ability and the willingness to work after 65.
People who have had secure employment, good working conditions, and continuity in their careers gain advantages over time, including higher income, stronger employability, better health, and closer social relationships at work. This creates greater room for manoeuvre, flexibility, and choice toward the end of working life. Anna also notes that the opposite is true.
– Precarious employment, low-paid jobs, and early-life unemployment tend to accumulate and risk leading to poorer health, lower pensions, and fewer opportunities to continue working later in life. This is despite the fact that this group would benefit the most economically from a longer working life.
What is lacking is the consistent implementation of the overall research findings in workplaces.
Franz Eiffe
Head of research at Eurofound
A sustainable working life throughout life increases the chances of working longer
Eurofound, the EU’s research centre for working and living conditions, emphasises the same point: the sustainability of working life must be viewed across the entire life course. Franz Eiffe is Head of Research and responsible for the report Keeping Older Workers in the Labour Force.
– We know what is needed, and it is a holistic perspective. The overall research findings show that a sustainable working life throughout life increases the chances of working longer, he says.
Franz wants to see this knowledge put into practice.
– What is lacking is the consistent implementation of the overall research findings in workplaces. Large organisations have an advantage here, while small and medium-sized enterprises often lack the resources. There is also insufficient pressure from governments on companies to employ older workers and to recruit them as new hires.
“Work pensioner” contribute to a new image of older workers
If you have had a sustainable working life throughout your life, you are more likely to have the energy to keep working even after retirement—if you want to. Researcher Robin Jonsson, who leads one of the studies on working retirees, hopes that “jobbonärer” can help reshape perceptions of older workers in the labour market.
– If the share of older people in the labour market increases, it can nuance the general view of older people’s abilities and knowledge, showing that there are positive aspects that come with age.
What is a “work pensioner”?
A “jobbonär” refers to a person who draws a Swedish public pension while also having pension-qualifying income. In 2023, there were 268,780 “jobbonärer” aged 62–85, corresponding to 12 percent of that age group. More men than women were “jobbonärer.”
An average “jobbonär” had earned income of SEK 182,000 and a public pension of SEK 202,000 in 2023. The total earned income of “jobbonärer” amounted to SEK 49 billion.
Source: Swedish Pensions Agency
TEXT: Lena Lindkvist (english translation by Forte)
