Australians are longer harder and longer, with the trend set to continue, according to the latest findings by the Australian National University (ANU).

ANU demographer Professor Peter McDonald compared the results from the 2006 and 2011 Censuses of Australia to examine the changes in employment trends of people aged 55 and older, concluding that Australians are working significantly longer in life.

“The labour force is moving away from more manual labour to non-manual labour. People are starting work later in life, so they are retiring later. People are also having children later, so often they hit 60 and they are still supporting their kids,” he said.

Professor McDonald said that the shift is more than just about workplace pressures, and represents a generational shift in what Australians want out of life.

“In the past older Australian’s had been happy with owning their own house and getting the age pension, but I think the next generation wants more than that. This is brought about by the superannuation revolution and that there is a chance of getting more than the age pension,” Professor McDonald said.

Professor McDonald said it was interesting to discover universal rises across each of the characteristics he compared.

“It was surprising that there were strong increases in employment for quite disadvantaged people – people with disabilities and those with poor English skills”, he said.

“The strength of the labour market itself is also driving this. Unemployment is low and economic growth has been high, so people who want to stay working have usually been able to do so.”

Professor McDonald’s research shows a six percentage point rise in the employment rate of men aged 55-59 years and a seven per cent rise for men aged 60-64 years from 2006 to 2011. Men aged 65-69 and 70-74 years also increased by about five percentage points each.

Females experienced the highest spikes, with more than a 10 percentage point jump in the employment rate for women between the ages of 55 and 64.The rise also continued for women aged 65-69, increasing by six percentage points in the six year period.

The analysis also found that there were strong differences in employment at older ages across different occupations and industries.