Every second unemployed person aged 60 to 64 long-term unemployed

According to Statistics Finland's employment statistics, there were 257,400 unemployed persons in Finland at the end of 2019, of whom 32,100 were aged 60 to 64 (12.5%). One-half of the unemployed aged 60 to 64 were long-term unemployed. In this age group, long-term unemployment was almost equally widespread in all levels of education. The data on unemployment in the employment statistics are based on the data of the Register of Job Seekers of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment.

Share of long-term unemployed persons among unemployed persons by age group and sex in 2019, %

One quarter (25.2%) of all unemployed persons at the end of 2019 were long-term unemployed, that is, had been unemployed continuously for at least one year. Long-term unemployment was the more common the older the unemployed were. The share of long-term unemployed grew particularly clearly between the two oldest five-year age groups: 32 per cent of the unemployed persons aged 55 to 59 were long-term unemployed and 50 per cent of those aged 60 to 64.

Even longer periods of unemployment were common in the 60 to 64 age group: one in four (26.8%) had been unemployed continuously for at least two years and one in ten (10.3%) for at least four years.

Long-term unemployment was more widespread among men than women in all age groups except for the youngest and oldest ones, that is, those aged 16 to 19 and 60 to 64. In the youngest age group, the number of long-term unemployed was in general very low (under 100 persons).

Higher education does not protect ageing people from prolonged unemployment

The most common highest qualification among unemployed persons aged 60 to 64 was an upper secondary level qualification, completed by 14,980 persons, or 47 per cent of the unemployed in the age group ¹⁾ . In the entire 60 to 64 age group (359,180), upper secondary level qualifications were also the most common and the corresponding share was 44 per cent (156,810) of the age group.

Of the unemployed persons aged 60 to 64 at the end of 2019, altogether 5,010 (15.6%) had completed lowest level tertiary qualifications, 4,170 (13.0%) had completed lower or higher university degrees and 220 (0.7%) doctorate degrees. Thus, there were 9,400 highly educated unemployed persons aged 60 to 64, that is, close on one-third (29.3%) of all unemployed persons aged 60 to 64. Tertiary level education among unemployed persons aged 60 to 64 was slightly rarer than the average for the population of the same age: 36 per cent of the age group had completed a university degree.

Unemployed persons aged 60 to 64 by level of education and duration of unemployment in 2019

The share of the long-term unemployed among unemployed persons was around one-half in all levels of education for those aged 60 to 64. The share of the long-term unemployed was lowest in the group of upper secondary and specialist vocational education, where the share of the long-term unemployed among all unemployed persons aged 60 to 64 in this level of education was 48 per cent (7,330). The share was at its highest in the group of doctorate level education, where the share of the long-term unemployed among all unemployed persons in the level of education was 55 per cent (120).

1) The educational level (highest qualification) of unemployed persons at the end of 2019 was deduced from the latest data on education from 2018. This limited the unemployed in the educational level examination to those belonging to the 2018 population (in total 32,052 unemployed persons aged 60 to 64 at the end of 2019 belonged to the 2018 population).

Source: Employment Statistics, Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Elina Pelkonen 029 551 3011, Meri Juuti 029 551 3061, info@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Updated 28.05.2020

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Employment [e-publication].
ISSN=2323-6825. Main type of activity and status in occupation 2019. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 6.11.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/tyokay/2019/02/tyokay_2019_02_2020-05-28_tie_001_en.html