Study finds sharp differences in age structure of working Finns
Swedish-speakers tend to retire later than others
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Age structures of employed Finns vary considerably in different parts of Finland. There are especially sharp local differences in participation in work by those who are close to retirement age.
In some communities on the Åland Islands as much as 80% of the middle-aged population work, while in some inland areas with high unemployment rates the figure is just slightly over 30%.
According to a study by Pekka Myrskylä of Statistics Finland, the employment rate of residents aged 50 to 65 was 82.2% in the municipality of Föglö in the Åland Islands, while in Pylkönmäki in Central Finland it was 32.4%.
Even on the Finnish mainland, residents of communities with large Swedish-speaking populations tend to stay at work longer than in Finnish-speaking areas.
Myrskylä observes that the wave of retirement of members of the postwar baby boom generation is already reflected in statistics. Half of those aged 59 and only a third of those aged 61 are still working.
In the five years after the war, 1945 - 1949, a total of 521,300 children were born in Finland, of whom about eventually 15% emigrated to Sweden. Of those who remained in Finland, 71% are still at work, 11% are unemployed, and 14% are retired.
The large wave of retirement expected in the coming years is set to bring about extensive changes in the age structures of the workforces of different areas.
On the average, about half of those who are employed are in the 30 - 49 age group. The figures, and the practical problems that result from them, have considerable local variation.
For instance, in Kustavi, in the southwest of Finland, 43% of those who are employed are scheduled to retire in the coming ten years. The number of employed is decreasing rapidly because only 12% of the workforce have recently started their working careers.
By contrast, in the island community of Luoto on the west coast, young workers outnumber those aged 50 or over.
University cities also have more young people at work than those approaching retirement age.
Timo Aro, an expert on migration patterns, sees the local differences in the employment rate among those aged 50 to 60 as the result of a long development of change in economic structures that began in the 1960s.
"Migration as a mechanism is an unpleasantly gradual social phenomenon", Aro says.
In areas which tend to absorb more migrants, the situation tends to improve, and in areas with a net loss of population, the situation is getting worse.
A shared feature of Swedish-language communities in Ostrobothnia with a high employment rate is that the number of people working in agriculture and forestry is nearly three times as high as in the rest of the region.
Swedish-speakers are also more likely to study or work abroad, giving more space on the labour market for those who stay in Finland.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 17.9.2004 - TODAY |
 Study finds sharp differences in age structure of working Finns |
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