University of Southern Denmark will lead large EU project on a long and healthy working life

What causes people to leave the labour market early, and what determines whether they can remain at work throughout a long working life? Professor Jan Hartvigsen from the Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) will investigate this together with, among others, Professor Jørgen Lauridsen from the Department of Economics at SDU and researchers from several European countries.

In the new project SUSTAIN Europe's Workforce, they will investigate how health, working conditions, life outside work and the way society is organised together influence people's ability to remain in the labour market. The project starts on 1 March 2027.

A long working life is about more than retirement age

One in four workers in Europe experience that their work has a negative impact on their health, and the annual costs exceed EUR 500 billion. At the same time, the question of retirement age and the length of working life is receiving considerable attention in many European countries.

- We are discussing rising retirement ages, however, it is at least as relevant to look at how we ensure that people are able and willing to remain in the labour market and have a good, long and healthy working life, says Jan Hartvigsen.

SUSTAIN is based on the premise that there is rarely a single explanation for why a person goes on long-term sick leave or leaves the labour market before retirement age. Health plays a major role, but so do conditions at the workplace, life outside work and the way society's compensation systems are organised.

Two people with chronic back pain may therefore have very different opportunities to remain at work.

- If the workplace is accommodating and able to adapt the work, and if the person has good resources to live a healthy and active life outside of work, the prospects for a long working life are good. Conversely, a lack of flexibility at the workplace and fewer resources in everyday life can make it more difficult to remain in work, says Jan Hartvigsen.

Rules and legislation also affect the possibilities for taking individual circumstances into account.

Health is only part of the explanation

In Denmark, musculoskeletal pain, particularly back pain, as well as mental health problems such as stress and depression are among the main health-related causes of sickness absence and early retirement. Physical and mental health problems also often occur in the same person.

In one part of SUSTAIN, the researchers will use data from Danish and Norwegian twin registries to investigate why different health problems often occur in the same people, and what role heredity, environment and the interaction between them play. The aim is to gain better knowledge about opportunities for prevention and treatment among vulnerable groups.

But illness or pain alone cannot explain why some people return to work while others do not.

- A longer period of absence can mean that you lose social relationships and networks, find it more difficult to manage everyday life or lose skills. At the same time, you may encounter reluctance from both public and private employers when trying to return to work. That is why we need to take a broader view of what keeps people in the labour market, says Jørgen Lauridsen.

Three groups are particularly vulnerable

The project focuses particularly on three groups at high risk of sickness absence and early retirement: young adults, women and older workers. Among young people, pain and mental health problems are among the factors that play a role, while for women the researchers will look at periods around pregnancy, childbirth and menopause. Among older workers, they will investigate why some continue working well beyond retirement age, while others stop earlier.

- We have chosen these three groups because they are at high risk of sickness absence and early retirement. This gives us the opportunity to focus our efforts on the points in working life where we are likely to make the greatest difference, says Jan Hartvigsen.

Across the three groups, SUSTAIN will also investigate social inequality. People who are less socially advantaged have poorer prospects of returning to work after an absence, and this may be related to education, financial resources and social networks.

Many of these factors have already been studied separately. SUSTAIN will analyse them from an integrated perspective and will also investigate how social capital, financial resources, knowledge and skills can be transferred between generations.

Data from 28 countries will connect the research

There is already a great deal of research on health, working life and early retirement, but it is often divided by both discipline and country.

SUSTAIN will combine health sciences, economics and social sciences with data from 28 countries to create a more integrated picture of what causes people to remain in or leave the labour market.

- There is already a great deal of research in the individual areas, but it is fragmented and often exists in silos. SUSTAIN will work across the areas that we know are important, says Jan Hartvigsen.

The project will not only describe what causes people to leave the labour market. The ambition is also to gain a better understanding of what can help people remain at work.

- If we can better understand why some people remain in the labour market while others leave, we can create a stronger basis for prevention and initiatives that consider health, the workplace and the wider societal framework, says Jan Hartvigsen.

The research will lead to concrete recommendations

In the longer term, the research should be useful for prevention and for initiatives that support people's ability to remain in the labour market for as long as they wish.

At the end of the project, SUSTAIN will produce recommendations for measures in areas including health and legislation. The aim is to improve conditions for workers in Europe while reducing the societal costs of sickness absence and early retirement.

SUSTAIN is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network that includes 15 PhD students, who will be trained to work across disciplines, countries and data sources.