In particular, sickness, disability and early retirement benefits are beyond the scope of the present exercise, they are discussed in the OECD series Sickness, Disability and Work (see www.oecd.org/els/disabilitv') and in in-depth country reviews on the situation of older workers fwww.oecd.org/olderworkersforum'). The obvious advantage is that long APW time series are available and that the concept is, on a technical level, consistent across countries. However, the proportion of workers employed in the manufacturing sector varies both between countries and over time. In particular, women are underrepresented so that the APW has become less representative over time - and less useful as a broad earnings benchmark as a result.