Occupational Class Differences in Trajectories of Working Conditions in Women

The aim was to examine occupational class differences in trajectories of working conditions in ageing female municipal employees. Longitudinal survey data were collected among 40 to 60-year-old employees of the City of Helsinki, Finland. The 2000–2002 baseline survey (N = 8960, response rate 67%) was followed up in 2007 and 2012. Only those female participants who remained employed through all three phases were included (n = 2540). The effects of age, occupational class, and time period on physical and psychosocial working conditions were estimated using a mixed linear growth model. Physical workload decreased with age, except for manual workers, for whom there was no change. Manual workers also had less control over their work than managers and professionals, semi-professionals, or routine non-manual employees. Job control declined similarly in all occupational classes. Although occupational class differences in the levels of job demands were found, with the managers and professionals reporting the most increased demands, job demands were fairly stable and there was virtually no age or period associated linear change in them. Age trajectories in physical workload differ by occupational class, and the differences in psychosocial working conditions between occupational classes do not converge with age.