Employees in higher-level occupations outlive manual workers. How long do they live in retirement or (in)activity?

In 2018, life expectancy at age 35 was almost 50 years for men in higher-level occupations versus 44 years for manual workers, a gap of nearly 6 years. These differences remain large at age 62: 3 years 6 months for men and 2 years 8 months for women. Despite a younger retirement age, male manual workers spend 2 fewer years in retirement than men in higher-level occupations and almost 3.5 more years unemployed or inactive. Moreover, manual workers frequently experience years of unemployment or inactivity before reaching legal retirement age. Women spend 3 to 4 more years in retirement than men of the same occupational category but also have more years of inactivity.