Work Participation among Women and Men in Sweden: A Register Study of 8.5 Million Individuals

• Observational research studies from various countries suggest that women’s working patterns across the life course are often fragmented compared to men’s. The aim of our investigation was to use nationwide register data from Sweden to examine the extent to which generation and time of entry to the work force explain the sex differences in work participation across the life course. Our analyses were based on individual-level data on 4,182,581 women and 4,279,571 men, who were 19–69 years old and resident in Sweden in 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, or 2015. Data on income and number of net days on disability pension, obtained from multiple linked registers, were used to ascertain each individual’s main activity (in paid work, on disability pension, and not in paid work) each year. Years in paid work and on disability pension were calculated as the sums of years spent in either of these states from age 19 to 69 years. We used negative binomial regression to model the associations of generation and baseline year with years in paid work and years on disability pension. All models were run separately for women and men, with the duration of follow-up constrained to one, to account for the different follow-up times between individuals. Overall, the number of years in paid work across the life course was larger among men than women, and men entered into the workforce earlier. The difference between women and men was similar across generations and time periods. Adjustment for education, income, number of children aged <18 years living at home, country of birth, and the type of residential area had minimal impact on the estimates. Our findings suggest that women spend fewer years in paid work across the life course than men, highlighting the need for continued efforts to close the gender gap in work participation.

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