Today we are facing the demographic trend of 'population ageing'. This phenomenon is going to have its various economic and labor force impacts through out the world. As populations age, older people will retire ( due to may be health problems) and this will create skill shortages and financial problems.
What is being done by policy initiatives and various practices in your countries to counteract this emerging problem; specifically in terms of encouraging older people to work longer?
The Economist recently weighed in on this topic, at least for high income countries:
www.economist.com/news/leaders/21601253-ageing-economy-will-be-slower-and-more-unequal-oneunless-policy-starts-changing-now
Across the rich world, well-educated people increasingly work longer than the less-skilled. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated well-off and the unskilled poor that is slicing through all age groups. Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. Those at the top are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom. And the well-qualified are extending their working lives, compared with those of less-educated people (see article). The consequences, for individuals and society, are profound.
Employment rates are falling among younger unskilled people, whereas older skilled folk are working longer. This trend will benefit not just fortunate oldies but also, in some ways, society as a whole. Growth will slow less dramatically than expected; government budgets will be in better shape, as high earners pay taxes for longer.
At the other end of the social scale, however, things look grim. Manual work gets harder as people get older, and public pensions look more attractive to those on low wages and the unemployed. In the lexicon of popular hate-figures, work-shirking welfare queens breeding at the taxpayer’s expense may be replaced by deadbeat grandads collecting taxpayer handouts while their hard-working contemporaries strive on.
Age should no longer determine the appropriate end of a working life. Mandatory retirement ages and pension rules that discourage people from working longer should go.
For some discussion in the context of pension policy see some of our works. All the best, Andrew
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/24096402_How_Has_Public_Policy_Shaped_Defined-Benefit_Pension_Coverage_in_Canada
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/239431320_Mandatory_Retirement_A_Constraint_in_Transitions_to_Retirement
Article How Has Public Policy Shaped Defined-Benefit Pension Coverag...
Article Mandatory Retirement: A Constraint in Transitions to Retirement?
In relation to the upper age segment, one innovation found in some countries has been the abolition of mandatory retirement (including in the USA, UK, Canada and New Zealand). This has placed constraints on the ability of employers to retire off individuals on the basis of their age alone. In addition, pension reforms in countries including the UK and US have made it easier for individuals to take their pensions and continue working. These changes were hoped to facilitate continued employment; they are discussed in this chapter:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292931455_Working_Beyond_Retirement_Age_Lessons_for_Policy
Chapter Working Beyond Retirement Age: Lessons for Policy
We had a project on this aiming at developing technological components for future solutions for an ageing workforce: https://www.researchgate.net/project/Cloud-Manufacturing-in-an-Ageing-Society
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