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OKRA denounces exclusion of many older people from social energy premium by new law

In Belgium, a new law on social rate premium excludes residents of residential care centres and assisted living homes. Adopted by the previous Belgian government in May, the law provides for a permanent social tariff premium for natural gas, electricity and heat. It applies for cases where the application of the social energy tariff is […]

Pension Adequacy: Halt the increase of old-age poverty!

Poverty and social exclusion among older persons, and especially among older women has been rising slowly since 2015. This is one of the results of the EU Pension Adequacy Report 2024, recently launched at a high-level conference in which we were invited to speak. Published every three years by the European Commission and the Social […]

Adequate pensions are essential to age in dignity

In November, European pensions stakeholders organised the European Retirement Week, a week of conferences and debates around pensions. As a partner of the European retirement week, AGE highlighted that pensions must protect against poverty and fairly compensate for a lifetime of contributions. During the launch of European Retirement Week in Brussels on 27 November, 14 […]

AGE Barometer

AGE Barometer assesses on a bi-annual basis the socio-economic situation of older people across the EU and how this situation underpins the respect of their human rights.

#OverTheLine campaign for adequate minimum income to fight poverty

17 October was the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.  To mark this day, the Social Platform – the platform of European Social NGOs – launched its #OvertheLine campaign, inviting to share messages on the importance of adequate minimum income schemes to tackle poverty in the EU.  AGE is part of the coalition of […]

Older Persons in Vulnerable Situations – Policy Brief

At any age, intersecting factors such as poverty, disability, social isolation and exposure to abuse can increase the risk of vulnerability and weaken resilience in the case of adverse events. A key challenge is to inform, design and implement comprehensive policies to enhance resilience. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) presents in this […]

Check out on your mood… at the supermarket

Photo from Jumbo.nl About 50 % of older persons feel lonely in the Netherlands, a fact that triggered a national action plan to fight loneliness. This inspired the Dutch local supermarket chain in Vlijmen to launch two popular initiatives, namely a “Chat Checkout”, consisting of dedicating a checkout counter to chat with customers and a […]

Council Recommendation on Minimum income: ‘Not enough to fight poverty’

The European Anti-Poverty Network, of which AGE is a member, has published its position on the recently adopted Council Recommendation on Minimum Income. AGE fully supports the statement by EAPN, which lauds the step taken by the adoption of the Recommendation but regrets that it is not a binding instrument like a Framework Directive. Across […]

The complex gender face of digital exclusion in old age

Contribution from OWN Europe to International Women’s Day, 8 March 2023 Europe is the most digitally connected region in the world with nearly 90% of the population being online[1]. While most policy makers look proudly at this achievement, this general figure hides huge disparities between countries and population subgroups. Large numbers of people in Europe […]

2023: Paving the way for a new vision of age

After two years of a pandemic that took a heavy toll on the population and shook the economy in Europe and the world, we were hoping for some respite last year. But the Russian invasion of Ukraine came as a brutal clash with our peaceful reality, and its multiple consequences has put an increasing number […]