back
|
 |
Is Europe Working for Older People?
By Philip Bushill-Matthews, Birmingham Post
March 11, 2004
A major national debate has just been held at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office in London, presented by Age Concern.
The subject was: "Creating Opportunity - is Europe working for older people?" I was pleased to see several locals among the 200 attendees, including the Chief Executive of Age Concern Wolver-hampton, Gerry Walsh, as well as Midlands Regional Policy Development Officer Jonathan
Gurling.
Jonathan told me afterwards of the intention of setting up a special West Midlands Regional Forum on Ageing later this year, to establish the issues and priorities for the region and to act as a reference point for policy development. This could be a most useful initiative, and may mirror locally what this conference endeavoured to do nationally.
After a brief introduction by Gordon Lishman, Director-General of Age Concern, followed by a keynote address by the Europe Minister, Denis MacShane MP, the debate took place in the format of a Question Time chaired by Jon Snow.
The cross-party panel had four MPs: Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green; I was honoured to be chosen to represent the Conservatives, and also to be the only panellist from the West Midlands.
Questions covered several main areas: Were Member States aware of the particular challenges faced by the elders of some ethnic communities, that age and race issues might have some connection? What was the future for continental pensions systems, which seem more generous than the UK assuming the money doesn't run out? Could common EU pension principles be established for all Member States? What measures could be taken to learn from other countries how to promote more employment for older people, and also to promote their self-employment and entrepreneurship?
Finally, did we really want yet more Directives at EU level, including the proposed Gender Directive, which would put up the cost of motor insurance to (better) women drivers?
The debate was lively and produced substantial agreement from all panellists, which both surprised and encouraged the delegates. There was also acceptance that while the EU was usefully flagging the issues, it would be for Member States to deliver the solutions.
When the time came to sum up, I was the final speaker. I congratulated Age Concern, not just for setting up this debate, but for helping so much in Brussels. Age Concern England has been active on the European scene for some 25 years. It was instrumental in setting up the cross-party "Ageing Intergroup" in the European Parliament, of which I am Co-President.
It has helped stimulate and drive policy change on age discrimination, employment and education issues at EU level as well as nationally, and deserved much praise.
I added that I was delighted there were so many young people present, as ageing issues ultimately affect us all. I was pleased that the title was "Creating Opportunity" rather than just addressing problems. Older people had so much to offer.
I also confirmed that none of us were interested in just being part of a talking-shop, that we all shared a wish to drive real change. Those in the room should work together and drive it, rather than stand aside and wait for the EU somehow to deliver. There was general agree-ment here too, recognising that ageing issues need to be addressed with urgency.
In the UK, as in the rest of the EU, the population is getting older. Birth rates are low, and life expectancy is increasing. By 2021, 40 per cent of us will be over 50 years old compared with just over a quarter of us now.
The biggest increase will be among the over-80's: their numbers will rise by almost 50 per cent during the same period. By 2040 there will be five million extra pensioners. Meanwhile more and more people can expect to live for at least twenty years after having reached pensionable age.
On the one hand this is a huge achievement: on the other it presents huge challenges, to respond appropriately to such a substantial demographic shift.
One obvious challenge is the issue of pensions, given that there is a strong link between old age and poverty. One in five current pensioners are in low-income households, and are more likely to live in accommodation that is substandard or difficult to heat.
This link is stronger for older pensioners, as those over 75 are significantly more likely to have low incomes than younger pensioners. It should also be noted that women pensioners are generally poorer than men, that two-thirds of low-income pensioners are women, and that fully 25 per cent of women pensioners in the UK today live in poverty. This is a challenge for the national Government as well as for the nation.
But there are other challenges currently being addressed at EU level, and the purpose of the Debate was to explore them. Around 50 per cent of domestic legislation is now influenced by the EU and the EU provides the legal framework whereby citizens can trade, work, meet, travel, live and receive social benefits and healthcare throughout all Member States.
The 1997 Treaty of Amsterdam gave the EU the power to legislate on age discrimination, and three years later the Council signed off the Employment Directive. As a direct result, Member States must introduce legislation to tackle discrimination against older people in employment and training by December 2006 at the latest.
This will make it illegal to discriminate against anyone on age grounds when they apply for a job or for vocational training. This should make a real difference to older people who want to work or study.
At the end of 2003 a special EU Employment Task Force had highlighted the need for Member States to develop comprehensive strategies in response to Ageing. It called for the provision of financial incentives for workers to retire later, and for employers to hire and keep older workers.
This included adjusting specific tax/benefits mechanisms, and introducing employment and pensions legislation to enhance incentives for older workers to stay longer in employment, and to discourage early exit from the labour Market. It proposed that early retirement schemes, so prevalent in the UK, should be actively discouraged.
It called for the promotion of genuine access to training for all, regardless of age, and for the development of lifelong-learning strategies in particular for older workers who are generally under-represented in training. It called for improvements in the quality of work to provide attractive, safe and adaptable work environments throughout the working life, including the provision of part-time and career breaks.
Finally it recalled an important target agreed at the European Council in Lisbon back in 2000. This stated that by 2010 the target was for 50 per cent of 55-64 year-olds to be still in work.
Currently only Sweden, Denmark, Portugal and the UK have reached this target already. Belgium, Italy, France, Luxembourg and Austria currently have employment rates for older workers of less than 33 per cent.
Delaying the average age at which people leave the labour force is crucial. Luxembourg, Belgium and France among the current Member States, plus Poland, Lithuania, Hungary and Slovakia among the incoming countries, all have average work-exit ages well below the EU average. They will be particularly stretched to meet the target, and their policies will have to change radically in order to achieve it.
But even the EU as it exists today will miss the 50 per cent target unless it can increase the number of older workers in work by fully 7 million over the next seven years.
This means that two-thirds of the current 46-55 age group must still be active in the labour market in 2010. This means in turn a significant change: only half of those in this group and in employment in 1991 were still working ten years later.
The problem for even older workers is even greater. Within the EU as a whole, only 3 per cent of people over 65 are "economically active". In the USA, the number is 12 per cent. America has got it right, or certainly more right than we have. We have to change.
One specific area I have long been championing personally is this opportunity for older people to continue to work longer if they so choose. Last month in the European Parliament I tabled a formal "Oral Question with debate" under an obscure rule of Parliamentary procedure in order to get this issue aired.
At the end of that debate I asked three questions. Will Member States action the Employment Task Force conclusions within a defined and early timetable? Will the Commission pull together an early Report to present to the Parliament, ideally by the end of this year, to check on progress?
And finally, will the Member States be urged to implement all the provisions on age discrimination in the Employment Directive without further delay?
I was pleased that in response the Social Affairs Commissioner Anna Diamantopoulou said that she hoped that the answer to all three questions would be "Yes".
For the sake of the increasing number of elderly people who want the chance to work longer, to learn longer, and to enjoy a decent quality of life for longer, I hope very much that she is right.
Copyright © 2004
Global Action on Aging
Terms of
Use | Privacy
Policy | Contact Us
|
