Living Conditions Surveys (ULF/SILC):
Growing number of older women learn new skills at work
Statistical news from Statistics Sweden 2018-12-17 9.30
Eight out of ten gainfully employed persons feel that they have good opportunities to learn new skills at work. This is more common among younger people than among older people. This share has increased since the 1980s, mainly among women and older people.
The Living Conditions Surveys (ULF/SILC) show that eight out of ten gainfully employed persons aged 16 to 64 years feel that they have good opportunities to learn new skills at work. Younger people see it this way more often than older people. Persons with post-secondary education more often see it this way than persons who have compulsory education or secondary education as their highest level of educational attainment.
A comparison over time shows that the share of those who feel they have good opportunities to learn new skills at work has increased from 62 percent in 1980–1981 to 79 percent in 2016–2017. This increase is present among both women and men and in all age groups, but the largest increase has been among women and older persons. Among women aged 60 to 64 years, the share of those who feel they have good opportunities to learn new skills at work has doubled since the early 1980s, from 36 percent to 72 percent.
Source: Statistics Sweden, Living Conditions Surveys
Further examples of survey results
The survey results are taken from the report “Arbetsmiljö 1980–2017”. Further comparisons over time presented in the report also show that the share of those who find their work mentally demanding has increased since the 1980s, while the share of those who lack influence over how their work is planned and how their working hours are scheduled has decreased.
Definitions and explanations
Good opportunities to learn new things at work: Based on the question: “Do you have good opportunities to learn new things at work?”
Mentally demanding work: Based on the question “Is your work mentally demanding?”
Influence at work: Based on the questions “to what extent do you have influence on how your work is planned” and “To what extent do you have influence over how your working hours are scheduled?” (None/some/considerable influence).
Gainfully employed persons: People who have work as their main activity. Based on the questions “The next questions are about your main activity. Do you work, are you unemployed, studying, retired or something else?”
Publication
Read more in the report Arbetsmiljö 1980–2017 (pdf)
Statistical Database
More information is available in the Statistical Database
Feel free to use the facts from this statistical news but remember to state Source: Statistics Sweden.