The number of working seniors has been increasing in the long term, although the covid and measures against it have slightly reduced their activities in this area. Indeed, between 2010 and 2020, the number of employed people aged 60 and over rose from 260 300 to 458 800. The latest CSO analysis shows that they are thus becoming more important to the labor market than ever before.
The share of working seniors in total employment has increased from 5.3 to 8.8 percent in that time, and the increase is even steeper for people over 65—from 75,600 to 148,300. The share of this age group in the workforce has thus almost doubled from 1.5 to 2.8 percent. This is according to a new analysis by the Czech Statistical Office (CSO).
The effects of loneliness
Comparing the “avid athletes” among seniors with the general population is interesting. “One in four active seniors aged 65 to 74 years plays sports for more than four hours a week. Only one in five people aged 15 and over are active in the sport for more than four hours a week,” said Milan Dedera from the Czech Statistical Office.
Of course, seniors are also plagued by age-related complications. For example, 17% of them experienced severe limitations in their usual household care activities due to illness or health problems.
They were then affected by the pandemic last year and the year before, which increased mortality rates. “Not only did their health deteriorate, but there were also deaths among the elderly because they found themselves isolated. So it may not have been the covid that damaged their health, but also the fact that they had no one to share their lives with,” Lorman described.