Page 32 - Working-and-ageing-Guidance-and-counselling-for-mature-learning

3062_EN_C1_Layout 1 11/23/11 4:21 PM Page 26

CHAPTER 2
Do European employers

support longer working lives?

Annemieke van Beek, Wilma Henderikse, Joop Schippers

In the European Union extending peopleʼs working lives is seen as a key
element in curtailing rising costs associated with an ageing population and in
solving looming labour shortages due to demographic shifts on the labour
market. The issue is high on the agenda of policy-makers. Governments have
taken initiatives to stimulate older workers to stay in the labour market and
postpone retirement. However, employers are considered a major driving force
in both defining the opportunities for retirement and the opportunities for
working longer. This chapter aims to examine the role employers play in
delaying retirement of their employees. Do employers recognise the value of
older workers staying in the labour market? How do they deal with the
consequences of an ageing labour force? What initiatives would be needed
to address the needs of ageing workers and stimulate older workers to
postpone retirement? To answer these questions data are used from a series
of identical surveys carried out in five European countries and additional in-
depth qualitative case studies of initiatives to encourage employees to delay
retirement.

2.1. Introduction

Demographic trends show that across the EU the population is ageing due to
a combination of low birth rates and rising life expectancy. An ageing workforce
and long-term decline of the working age population will constitute a significant
challenge for Member States, in the medium to long term, to maintain
economic growth and sustain social support systems. According to Eurostat
by 2060 there will be only two people of working age (15-64) for every person
aged over 65 in the EU compared to a ratio of four to one today ( ). From 2012
5

( ) Eurostat, employment rate of older workers by gender
5
http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/structural_indicators/indicators/ employment.