The expected life years after labour market exit indicator measures the remaining period life expectancy at the average age of labour market exit by gender. In 2024, the OECD average was 22.8 years for women and 18.7 years for men. After a sharp increase since 1970, the OECD average number of expected life years after labour market exit has been fairly steady since around 2010 for men and around 2000 for women, for whom it has even fallen slightly.
Pensions at a Glance 2025
OECD and G20 Indicators
This indicator measures the remaining life expectancy at the average age of labour market exit. Women can expect to live about 26 years or more after exiting the labour market in Belgium, Costa Rica, France, Luxembourg and Slovenia (Figure 6.15, Panel B). Similarly, men can expect to live more than 22 years after labour market exit in France and Luxembourg (Figure 6.15, Panel A). Women’s remaining life expectancy at the average age of labour market exit was below 20 years in Estonia, Korea, Mexico and the United States, and men’s was at about 16 years or below in Colombia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania and Mexico.
Men typically can thus expect to live 4.1 years less than women after labour market exit on average in the OECD (Figure 6.15). In Costa Rica and Colombia, the gender gap was over seven years. This gap between men and women is due to both higher life expectancy and lower labour market exit age among women. The gender gap in life expectancy at 65 years is equal to 3.1 years on average (see above in this chapter) while the gender gap in average labour market exit age is equal to 1.1 years (Figure 6.13). Longer periods after labour market exit expose women to old-age income poverty (Chapter 7), as older women more often live alone than men due to widowhood and often have lower pensions.
The average length of life after labour market exit increased significantly in the latter of the last century but has been relatively stable steady since. In 1970, men in the OECD countries spent on average 11.9 years after their exit from the labour market while by 2011 this increased to 19.0 years (Figure 6.16, Panel B). However, since then it has been between 18 and 19 years, equalling 18.7 years in 2024. Women saw a similarly high increase from 15.8 years in 1970 to a peak reached earlier at 23.6 years in 2001, remaining steady around that level until 2017 (Figure 6.16, Panel A). In recent years there has been a steady decline to 22.8 years in 2024.
The increase in the expected lifetime after labour market exit from 1970 to around 2000 was due to both a drop in the effective exit age from the labour force and increased longevity. Since then, the continuing life expectancy gains in old age have been offset by increases in labour market exit ages, resulting in the steadiness of the expected life years.
Definition and measurement
Expected life years after labour market exit for women and men is measured as the respective remaining life expectancy at the average age of effective labour market exit. Estimates of remaining life expectancy are calculated based on the UN World Population Prospects – The 2024 Revision dataset.
The average effective age of labour market exit is defined as the average age of exit from the labour force for workers aged 40 and over. In order to abstract from compositional effects in the age structure of the population, labour force withdrawals are estimated using changes in labour force participation rates rather than labour force levels. These changes are calculated for each (synthetic) cohort divided into five‑year age groups. Each age group is weighted by its average population share among OECD countries. Based on this methodology, absolute numbers for a given country should be interpreted cautiously. However, comparisons across countries or through time within countries are robust.
Note: Numbers in parenthesis indicate the average effective age of labour market exit in 2024 by gender. Life expectancy at labour market exit is based on period-specific mortality rates.
Source: OECD calculations based on United Nations Population Prospects: 2024 Revision, exit ages: see previous section.
Life expectancy at labour market exit age (both left axis), in years
Note: Life expectancy at labour market exit is based on period-specific mortality rates.
Source: OECD calculations based on United Nations Population Prospects: 2024 Revision, exit ages: see previous section.