According to ILO, 45% of women over 50 are reported as being active in the workforce, compared to 70% of men worldwide: what’s happening with women?
With clashes between ongoing inequality and new forms of discrimination, the situation for women over 50 is less favorable than it is for men of the same age in the global labor market. The main reason is because existing inequalities are now being amplified. A report by the French women’s organization Fondation des Femmes describes this phenomenon as “the cost of old age”. Let’s take a closer look.
Strong growth in women’s employment…
It is worth remembering that there was a huge hike in women’s employment between 2000 and 2024. According to the latest OECD data, the employment rate increased by 18.5 percentage points for women aged 55 to 59 and by 10.4 points for those aged 50 to 54.
This increase is mainly due to their level of education. The percentage of women aged 55 and over with a university degree doubled over the same period. Qualifications lead to more stable employment and better adaptability to the job market, so more people stay employed.
Over the same period, economies largely shifted towards services, which favored women, who are still in the majority in that sector. While the macroeconomic context may seem to have played in their favor, these figures mask a stark reality. The Fondation des Femmes findings underscore the impacts on women’s careers, and those effects intensify after age 50.
...But inequalities still persist
1. Involuntary part-time work
Being forced to work part time has a big impact on women’s professional vulnerability. In 2017, 33.7% of older women worked part-time, compared to 11% of older men. While recent trends show a decline in part-time work among 25–49-year-olds, it is actually increasing among seniors.
Often, women don’t have a choice in the matter; they have to deal with family responsibilities or “take it or leave it” working conditions in the care industry, which mostly employs women. In Europe, 28% of women work part-time, compared to 7.7% of men. (Eurostat, 2021) For senior women, the number of working hours is particularly alarming: 16.5% of women over 60 are employed for less than 15 hours (Anact, 2019), which leaves them very vulnerable.
2. The “sandwich” generation and the burden of care
These inconsistencies in women’s careers can also be explained by the burden of care, which still falls predominantly on women. First, there is the burden of motherhood, when women earn less because they are having and caring for children. They might be overlooked, they might miss opportunities, have to take a leave of absence or resort to part-time work to cope with childcare issues… These adjustments or exclusions mainly affect women.
But the end of the care work doesn’t stop when children grow up. The average age of entry into caregiving is estimated at 39 years. In France, 60% of the 11 million caregivers are women. This percentage rises to 74% when care becomes more physically and psychologically demanding. (OCIRP, VIAVOICE, 2024) This unpaid work is often an invisible obstacle to career development and even to staying in a job.
3. Sexism and ageism: a two-edged sword
Ageism refers to the stereotypes and discrimination people face because of their age. As such, senior men and senior women do not suffer the same prejudices: wisdom is associated with some, fragility with others. As Susan Sontag already proved in her 1972 essay The Double Standard of Aging, senior women lose credibility as they get older, senior men do not. Senior women are perceived as less reliable and more “volatile” because of hormonal fluctuations related to menopause.
In OECD countries, 62% of men over 55 feel they have a say in important decisions, compared to only 50% of women of the same age. This cognitive bias is part of a broader collective imagination, and the film industry is one of its most emblematic examples. After 30, a woman is often considered “past her prime” and struggles to get roles, while it is commonly accepted that a man tends to improve with age. The same exclusionary dynamic is found in the business world. According to the Force Femmes association, 68% of recruitment agencies consider age as a potentially discriminatory factor, and 47% admit that it is difficult to find work for women over 45.
The taboo surrounding menopause fuels these stereotypes of the declining “older woman”. Female employees then suffer from stereotypes linked to this period of profound upheaval without being able to talk about their symptoms and the potential impacts on their professional lives, for fear of making things worse. According to a study by Kantar for the Fondation des Femmes and MGEN in 2023, only 30% of employed women are willing to discuss menopause-related disorders with their employer or supervisor. Although it is still low, this figure has risen by 8 points since 2019. The reasons for not talking about the menopause include “it is not an issue that should be discussed with an employer” (70%) and “it is an intimate/delicate subject, which can make people uncomfortable” (52%).
A Scandinavian solution? A look at what’s happening in Norway
Some countries are the exception to this rule. For example, Norway has almost achieved equality among seniors. The employment rate for women aged 55-64 is over 70%. The gender gap is one of the smallest in the OECD, at around only 2 to 3 percentage points. The average retirement age is almost identical for men and women (around 62-63 years old).
So why is Norway succeeding where others fail? It’s not a coincidence. From the 1970s and 80s onwards, Norway built its welfare state on the idea that every adult should work, based on the “dual income provider” model. France still uses the supplementary salary principle. As a result, Norwegian women are more likely to have uninterrupted careers, and even at 50, they are still “in the game.”
Norway is also known for its policy of more equal division of childcare. Everyone is given long, well-paid parental leave, and part of that leave must be shared between both parents. The country has also built a substantial and widespread childcare system. Since 2009, all children have the right to a place in daycare, regardless of the parents’ professional situation. In France there are approximately 60 childcare places for every 100 children under 3 years old. The burden of motherhood therefore doesn’t carry the same risk in both countries.
Fighting against the cost of old age: taking action throughout women’s careers
As the report by Fondation des Femmes shows, “band-aid” measures won’t suffice to combat the cost of old age. Waiting until women reach the age of 50 before making efforts to correct career-long discrimination is clearly ineffective.
For businesses and governments, the challenge is clear: it is no longer just about “managing ages” but about rethinking women’s entire career path. Without this ambition, the “cost of old age” will continue to weigh mostly on women.
