The cessation of rising employment rates at older ages in Australia, 2000-2019

Abstract

Background: In the first decade of the 21st century, employment at older ages surged in Australia, benefitting the Australian economy. Subsequent to 2010, however, employment rates at older ages ceased rising for older men and the increases were much more moderate for women. Aim: The aim of this paper is to examine these older-age employment trends in more detail, particularly the association between older-age employment trends and the business cycle. Some attention is also given to alternative explanations related to changes in the characteristics of the population and industrial structure. Data and methods: Two main data sources are used: published tables from the monthly Australian..