Present-day Romanian teenagers will stop working sooner than same-age young people in most EU states

Present-day Romanian teenagers will stop working sooner than other same-age young people in most European Union member states, according to Eurostat estimates.

The duration of the working life indicator estimates how long a person who is currently 15 years old will be active in the labour market during his life, for a given country and year.

In 2017, the expected duration of working life in the EU was 36 years, 3 years longer than in 2000. When the figures are examined at the level of EU Member States, the duration of working life ranged from 31.6 years in Italy to 41.7 years in Sweden.

In Romania, the expected duration of working life was 33.4 years for young people aged 15 in 2017, the 7^th lowest duration in the EU after Italy, Croatia (32.5 years), Greece (32.7 years), Belgium (32.9 years), Bulgaria (33 years), Luxembourg (33.2 years), and Poland (33.3 years).

In most western countries, the expected duration of working life exceeds 35 years.

At the EU level, there was a difference of 5 years between men and women, with men at 38 years, and women at 33 years.

The duration of working life was longer for men than for women in most EU Member States in 2017, with the exception of two countries (Lithuania and Latvia).

Latvia had no difference in the length of working life between men and women, and in Lithuania the duration of working life was longer for women than for men.

Among the EU Member States, Malta had the largest gender gap (12 years).