How to Reconcile employees’ interest with the increasing older workers employment policies
7. Care infrastructures
The last issue dealt with in this paper is an issue often wrongly overlooked when discussing active ageing, namely provision of care for children, parents and spouses. This element might seem to be of less of a priority when discussing active ageing for men, however Pacolet and Hedebouw (2003) demonstrate its importance for women and hence also indirectly for men as couples tend to retire together. The significance of social spending on family/childcare for the female labour market participation in general has been demonstrated by several studies, however very little is known about the influence on older women’s labour market participation. Nevertheless the little evidence that exist points to the fact that grandmothers play a major role in the care for grandchildren. This implies that future grandmothers will be put in a dilemma as their parents will still be living and probably also needing care, hence the term of ‘sandwich’ generation. Figures show that even in countries with a well-developed system, i.e. formal care provided, the bulk of the care is provided by the household, family or neighbours, even though it is not a full-time job. This implies that formal care cannot work completely as a substitute for informal care although it can alleviate. This notwithstanding, the demand for care is bound to rise and this needs to be taken into consideration when discussing active ageing.
An important element is that a high employment rate amongst younger women seem to produce higher employment rates among the older women as well. There appears to be a continuity in the rate of employment. This implies that child-care provision ensuring higher employment rates among the younger women will, over time, have a positive effect on the employment rate of the older workers and could support their remaining in employment for longer. In the worst scenario, assuring adequate formal care provision to substitute informal care, for children as well as the elderly, will prevent the employment rate from decreasing as the demand for care increases with the ageing population. Once again the less skilled are more likely to withdraw from the labour market to provide informal care, thereby contributing to their already fragile position as older worker. However, one should not lose sight of the fact that the decision to leave an employment to provide care is an individual choice, however it is also a social choice to provide care or not and hence this can influence the individual choice. The more formal care provided, the less pressure there is to leave the labour market, however the demand for care provision should be evaluated on a life-cycle basis as older women’s labour market participation will be strongly influenced by having participated at an earlier stage.
8. General conclusions
The research undertaken at the ETUI and published in Jepsen et al. (2002,2003) points to the fact that, although special measures are needed for the older workers, the main conclusion to be drawn is that for older workers to stay in the labour market, action should be taken on a lifelong basis. Many of the measures discussed in connection with active ageing (incentives from the social security system, WTR, training, working conditions, social infrastructure etc.) actually should apply to all workers. Applying the measures only to older workers will stigmatize and may not have the expected effect as they are not sufficient to keep older workers in the labour market. Actually most of the policies proposed for older workers would be appropriate for the entire work force.
References
Chassard, Y (2003): «What Policy Approach to Active Ageing?» in Active Ageing: what strategies to develop?, Jepsen, M., D. Foden and M. Hutsebaut (eds.), Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.
Delsen, L (2003): «Tax and social protection systems incentives and disincentives to be active in the labour market» in Active Ageing: what strategies to develop?, Jepsen, M., D. Foden and M. Hutsebaut (eds.), Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.
Jepsen, M., D. Foden and M. Hutsebaut (eds.) (2002) : Active Strategies for older Workers, Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.
Jepsen, M., D. Foden and M. Hutsebaut (eds.) (2003): Active Ageing: what strategies to develop?, Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.
Jolivet, A. (2003): “The cluster of issues surrounding working time, work organisation and job design” in Active Ageing: what strategies to develop?, Jepsen, M., D. Foden and M. Hutsebaut (eds.), Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.
Lafoucrière, C. (2003): “The Application of Active Labour Policies and Programmes to Older Worker” in Active Ageing: what strategies to develop?, Jepsen, M., D. Foden and M. Hutsebaut (eds.), Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.
Pacolet, J and Hedebouw, G. (2003): “How the provision of a social infrastructure and services contributes to the increased employment of older workers” in Active Ageing: what strategies to develop?, Jepsen, M., D. Foden and M. Hutsebaut (eds.), Brussels: European Trade Union Institute.
Tags: employment Europe, working beyond 60