Portugal faces a critical teacher shortage due to the aging workforce and difficulty attracting young people to the profession. In 2019, only 0.6% of teachers were under 30, while 53% were aged 50 or older (National Education Council, 2020). Additionally, teachers’ work, job satisfaction, and health were significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Research indicates an overall decline in teachers’ well-being – both personal and professional – during this period (e.g., Chan et al., 2021). However, studies examining well-being after the official end of the pandemic, as declared by the World Health Organization in May 2022, remain scarce. Thus, the combination of an aging and less healthy workforce may further exacerbate both the quantitative and qualitative teacher shortage in the short term. In this context, the present study explores how age discrepancy (i.e., the difference between each participant’s perceived age and chronological age) relates to work-family conflict (WFC) and burnout among teachers. Using a repeated cross-sectional design, data were collected during the pandemic (October 2020 – Time 1) and after the pandemic (October 2023 – Time 2). A sample of 260 teachers at Time 1 and 364 teachers at Time 2 completed an online questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 29. Results showed that teachers in time 1 reported to felt considerably younger than they really are (M = -2.58, SD = 10.81) compared to teachers in time 2 (M = -0.74, SD = 11.20), t(622) = -2.04, p < .05. This result is particularly interesting when considering that no statistical differences were found in chronological age (Mt1 = 51.59, SD t1 = 8.06; M t2 = 51.64, SD t2 = 8.30) and perceived age (M t1 = 49.01, SD t1 = 11.89; M t2 = 50.89, SD t2 = 12.78) between times 1 and 2. Also, teachers in time 1 (M = 3.43, SD = 1.09) reported significantly lower levels of WFC than teachers in time 2 (M = 3.88, SD = 0.88), t(622) = -5.68, p < .001. Teachers in time 1 (M = 3.28, SD = .65) and time 2 (M = 3.36, SD = .64) did not differ significantly on levels of burnout, t(622) = -1.64, p = -.102. Age discrepancy positively affects WFC in time 1 (B = .027, p < .001, R2 = .07) and time 2 (B = .021, p < .001, R2 = .07), and positively affects burnout in time 1 (B = .024, p < .001, R2 = .16) and time 2 (B = .022, p < .001, R2 = .14). Together, these results suggest that age discrepancy plays a relevant role in the work-life relationship and well-being during and after the pandemic. Notably, during the pandemic, teachers perceived themselves as younger than their chronological age and reported experiencing less WFC than afterward. This may indicate that the pandemic had long-lasting effects on teachers’ perceptions of their own aging and on their work-life balance, potentially hindering their successful aging.

Participation in this conference was funded by COST Action CA22120, LeverAge, supported by COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).

teachers,age discrepancy,burnout,work-family conflict