Longitudinal reciprocal associations between physical exercise and aggressive behavior in adolescents: a cross-lagged analysis.

Globally, women are working for longer, with women’s labor force participation reaching record levels of 66% in 2023. The largest increases are evident among women aged 55–64 years (). The data show that women in the 55–64 years old group had the highest levels of sickness absence, with absence due to stress being most likely in this group (). In the United Kingdom, women face gender pension gaps, pay gaps, gender care gaps, and gender health gaps. These are important to consider based on the structural inequalities women face across the life course in the context of wellbeing and extended working life. Whilst in the United Kingdom (UK), women’s pension age has been harmonized, research demonstrates women disproportionately extend their working life compared to men and are affected by inequalities, including health inequalities, over the course of their lives more than men (). Looking specifically at lower-paid workers, , focusing on blue-collar bus drivers, highlight that women are over-represented in lower-paid roles characterized by reduced autonomy and financial precarity. For many women, the need to remain in paid employment into older age reflects economic necessity rather than preference, reinforcing the importance of sustaining health and wellbeing at work. Despite this, women in lower-paid roles remain under-represented in research on later-life working, which has tended to prioritize professional or managerial occupational groups. Whilst the term “older worker” typically refers to individuals aged 55 years and over (), definitions vary, with some European frameworks categorizing those aged 50 + as older workers (; ). The Office for National Statistics () data show that women aged 55–64 report the highest levels of sickness absence in the UK workforce, with stress-related absence particularly prevalent in this age group (). Although the state pension age for women and men has been harmonized (), research demonstrates that women are disproportionately more likely than men to extend their working lives. Working into later life and extended working life is, therefore, embedded within gendered life-course structures.