Anne-Sophie Parent, Director of AGE, presents AGE members perspectives in a TVlink Europe video clip on Staying active as you get older. “We are heading for a rapid ageing of the population, with people aged 65 and over soon to represent a third of the population and the number of people aged 80 and over to increase four-fold in the near future” observed Ms Parent.
She added that “We have noticed that people who are still active and socially involved are in better health, if not physically, then at least mentally and psychologically. People are less dependent on others and generally speaking, it is beneficial for society as a whole, not only in terms of the contributions people make, but simply by keeping them in better health and she concluded that the main obstacles to people working longer “are the legal mechanisms in force that prevent people in many Member States from combining retirement and paid jobs. There are insurance age limits, for example for associations employing voluntary workers which prevent volunteers over the age of 70 from pursuing such activities. There are these various types of obstacles, both structural and legal.”
Useful documents:
The second Demography Report – Towards better societies for families and older people
The European Demography Report is published every two years by the European Commission and provides the latest facts and figures that are needed to assess where Member States stand in responding to the challenges of demographic change. The 2008 report focuses on the ageing society and changing family and household patterns in the EU.
Growing numbers of older Europeans are choosing to work longer, reversing the previous trend toward early retirement – a development that could ease Europe’s aging population problem. Employment rates for almost all ages have risen sharply since 2000 and this is particularly true for baby boomers. Helping older people stay in the workforce and otherwise remain active is one of the EU’s key strategies to tackle the ageing population challenge. But older workers face numerous obstacles, including laws against taking a paid job while collecting a pension and restrictions on certain activities due to insurance concerns.
Flash Eurobarometer on family life and the needs of an ageing population (October 2008)
This Flash Eurobarometer was conducted in order to examine how families felt about their life today, the problems faced and their opinions about policies that could help improve the situation. In addition, the needs of an ageing population were also examined from the point of view of financial planning, housing, activities, health, etc. and the survey examined policies that could support an ageing population.
