Policies for an Ageing Workforce: Work-life balance, working conditions and equal opportunities

Extending average working lives by 10 years, while ensuring an adequate social safety net for those unable to work into their late 60s and 70s, is a major social policy challenge today and for the coming decades. Tackling this challenge involves delving into policy areas that range from working conditions, skills and lifelong learning, pensions, socio-economic inequalities in health and life expectancy to the design of a much broader agenda on active ageing. This edited volume covers these issues in succinct chapters based on in-depth research by the authors. Despite the challenges of demographic ageing, as Commissioner Thyssen says in her Foreword to this book: �� ageing does not just pose challenges. If Member States promote the right active ageing approach, this also offers opportunities. Firstly, active ageing means more social opportunities. Older people contribute to society too. We should empower them to work, learn and volunteer, according to individual needs, preferences and capacities. Secondly, active ageing means economic opportunities. Older people represent a growing market. Servicing this market will lead to business opportunities and innovations in which Europe could be a leader. And the experience and expertise of older people is an indispensable asset for our economies � an asset that increases further when they can properly pass the torch by mentoring younger generations.� This booklet was produced under the FACTAGE project.