Dr. Sarmitė Mikulionienė, Senior Researcher at the Law Institute of the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences (LCSS) and lead researcher of the VAM project, participated in the 17th Conference of the European Sociological Association (ESA), “Strengthening Democracies: Social Action, Solidarity, and Sustainable Futures".

The conference was held in Warsaw, Poland, on 25-28 August 2026. Dr. Mikulionienė presented research examining the factors that influence older people’s intentions either to continue working or to leave the labour market as soon as possible, with particular attention paid to gender differences. In the session devoted to social justice and ageism at work, Dr. Mikulionienė presented a paper entitled “Determinants of Extended Working Lives: Gendered Profiles”. The presentation featured findings from the ongoing project “(Not)prolonging the working life of older women: legal environment, guarantees and intentions” (VAM).

Using microdata from the SHARE database (N = 2,745), the study examined and compared the work intentions of employees aged 55 and over in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. Particularly striking contrasts were found between Estonia and Lithuania. Estonia is characterised by a “flexible” or “soft” retirement model, with as many as 84% of older workers expressing a desire to remain active in the labour market. In Lithuania, by contrast, a “hard” retirement model predominates: due to the inflexibility of the system, older workers experience what can be described as systemic fatigue, with as many as 85% expressing a desire to leave the labour market as early as possible.

Based on the SwAge methodology and decision-tree analysis, the study identified specific barriers and motivational factors that vary according to workers’ gender and level of education. The findings demonstrate that simply increasing the statutory retirement age is not sufficient to encourage older people to remain in employment.

Dr. Mikulionienė emphasises that public policy should focus on:
1.  Flexibility adapted to health conditions: moving away from rigid employment and retirement models towards solutions that can be adapted to workers’ health and individual circumstances.
2. Gender-sensitive psychosocial working environment indicators: creating working environments that take into account gender-specific priorities and the different factors that motivate older women and men to remain active in the labour market for longer.

Dr. Sarmitė Mikulionienė’s participation in the conference and the research presented were funded by the project “(Not)prolonging the working life of older women: legal environment, guarantees and intentions” (VAM, Contract No. S-MIP-24-29).