Abstract
The study bases on the SHARE Wave 8 COVID-19 Survey conducted in June-August 2020 in 26 European countries and Israel via CATI. The association between health status of older workers and their involvement into labour market in Latvia is the strongest in Europe. In the short term, the first wave of the infection outbreak affected the employment of older population in the Baltic States to much lesser extent than in most of participating countries. The proportion of those workers who experienced unemployment, lay-off or closure of business, as well as changes in the number of working hours was considerably lower than average values. The branches with traditionally high share of older workers (education, healthcare, agriculture, administrative services) were least affected by lockdown measures. Remote work from home in the Baltic States as well as combining work from home with usual work place was lower than the European average. The existing labour legislation in Latvia does not ensure sufficient protection of workers’ rights and health in the situation of remote work.
Highlights
Fuelled by the population ageing both due to natural decrease and to extensive outmigration of people in younger age groups to Western European countries, elderly workers have become an important part of labour market in Latvia, as well as in the other Baltic States
As was demonstrated in our recent work (1), promoting active and healthy ageing has become a prominent part of political agenda in Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, backed by the adoption of special national programmes aimed at increasing the employability of older population groups and the allocation of resources to these programmes, including financing from European Structural Funds
The quantitative analysis in the study is based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) special COVID-19 Wave, which was carried out with the means of computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) in 26 European countries and Israel in JuneAugust 2020 (6)
Summary
Fuelled by the population ageing both due to natural decrease and to extensive outmigration of people in younger age groups to Western European countries, elderly workers have become an important part of labour market in Latvia, as well as in the other Baltic States. They include ‘Development of Comprehensive Active Ageing Strategy for Longer and Better Working Lives’ (Latvia), ‘Increasing Employment for 2014–2020’ (Lithuania). The proportion of pensioners is higher in a number of small sectors, such as in art and operations with real estate, as well as in water supply and waste management These professions were not under the risk of losing their jobs due to COVID-19 infection wave, in contrast to representatives of hospitality and catering industries, tourism and entertainment, where younger workers make the majority. Many employees had to change their everyday working routines radically by switching to remote or hybrid way of work
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