Ageing populations

Is the UK ready to invest in decent pay for adult social care workers?

“Everywhere I go within care and speak to our members, they ask us, why can NHS staff negotiate their pay on a national level, but we can’t? The care workforce is bigger than that of the NHS, and the skill sets are very similar. Collective bargaining is the first level of investment we would [...]Read the full article

Unemployment and older workers: overcoming the barriers to decent work

9 October 2023

Unemployment and older workers: overcoming the barriers to decent work

At the same time as consideration is being given to extending our expiry date as workers, there are people in the last stage of their careers who simply cannot find a job.Read the full article

28 August 2023

Culture is resistance: from hip hop at 50 to Indigenous sexual identity in the face of ‘pink capitalism’

“As centuries of conquest have shown, once the land has been conquered and the people uprooted, once new rulers, laws and languages have been imposed, and the names of people and places have been changed, all that remains is memory and the collective desire to keep it [...]Read the full article

In Spain, public and private actors are helping the rural elderly to “age with dignity in their villages”

31 May 2023

In Spain, public and private actors are helping the rural elderly to “age with dignity in their villages”

As rural areas increasingly empty out, communities are left with fewer and fewer resources, whether public or private, to address dependency and loneliness. Elderly inhabitants are forced to choose between living alone or spending the final stage of their lives in a nursing home far from their [...]Read the full article

2 March 2023

As the Orpea scandal and others remind us, profit-making has no place in care

Tuscany Bell: “Long-term care facilities are subsidised to a large extent by public money. When financial risks aimed solely at increasing profitability do not pay off, it is the state which must ultimately step in to ensure the welfare of care recipients, once again from the public [...]Read the full article

2 February 2023

How Ireland’s ‘Great Reshuffle’ could benefit women and older workers

Maeve O’Sullivan: The world is reeling from recent tech job losses and the global recession. But Ireland is well positioned to respond to these challenges if it can address its labour market inequality.Read the full article

With workers locked-in to a future of continuing education, who will pay the bill?

12 January 2023

With workers locked-in to a future of continuing education, who will pay the bill?

Marga Zambrana: Experts and international organisations warn that only those who are able to quickly adapt to change through lifelong learning will survive.Read the full article

High value, low pay: the care sector in Spain

9 January 2023

High value, low pay: the care sector in Spain

Workers and trade unions have long argued that the management of dependency care – like health and education – should be public. They argue that as public sector employees, not only would their working conditions improve but so too would the care they [...]Read the full article

2 June 2022

Why profit-making has no place in care

Jan Willem Goudriaan : Organising care on a not-for-profit basis is good for society, good for taxpayers, good for people who need care and support, and good for care workers.Read the full article

‘Invisible' migration and bodies that expire: the reality of older migrants in Latin America

25 May 2022

‘Invisible’ migration and bodies that expire: the reality of older migrants in Latin America

As the ageing of the world’s population accelerates, what of the older people on the move within its fastest ageing region, Latin America?Read the full article

Is physical money destined to disappear?

17 March 2022

Is physical money destined to disappear?

Fundación Alternativas: Attempts to implement top-down mechanisms, such as the single digital payment, that leave out a significant percentage of the world’s population will only result in poverty and exclusion. Virtual money already coexists seamlessly with physical money. But paper banknotes still have a lot of use [...]Read the full article

In Italy, rising dementia rates and an ageing population are exposing the painful consequences of an absent state

11 February 2022

In Italy, rising dementia rates and an ageing population are exposing the painful consequences of an absent state

A report by Alzheimer Europe estimates that around 1.3 million people in Italy suffer from dementia. If ageing trends continue at their current pace, this figure could double by 2050. The country faces a major challenge in providing care for this growing number of [...]Read the full article

Growing old without social protection or a pension in Lebanon

9 June 2021

Growing old without social protection or a pension in Lebanon

Elderly dependants have been hard hit by recent blows to the Lebanese economy. They feel abandoned by the state and are having to turn to charity to survive. Even before the recent crises, the country’s public health and social services were hugely lacking and care for the elderly was almost [...]Read the full article

José Mujica: “Digital civilisation is creating a real disease in representative democracy, and I don't know what the cure is”

16 April 2021

José Mujica: “Digital civilisation is creating a real disease in representative democracy, and I don’t know what the cure is”

The worst dictatorship in the world could never even dream of having a mechanism that would allow it to get into people’s subconscious, and what’s worse is that it’s in the hands of private companies that sell their services.Read the full article

In desperate search of disposal sites for its nuclear waste, Japan offers poisonous grants to two small villages

9 November 2020

In desperate search of disposal sites for its nuclear waste, Japan offers poisonous grants to two small villages

Despite having shut down the majority of its reactors following the fatal accident in Fukushima, Japan’s commitment to nuclear energy remains firm. The government is now being urged to construct a nuclear disposal site and the top contenders for its location are villages with ageing populations [...]Read the full article

Alisa Trojansky: “It's time to formalise the care sector and stop the privatisation trend”

29 October 2020

Alisa Trojansky: “It’s time to formalise the care sector and stop the privatisation trend”

As demand for care expands across Europe, and the public sector fails to meet it, digital platforms are moving in to fill the gap; in turn, they are redefining the way in which home care is organised.Read the full article

Japan's care sector protects quality of life for the country's elderly population

25 May 2020

Japan’s care sector protects quality of life for the country’s elderly population

Japan is celebrating 20 years of a social care system that provides cover in the final stages of life. In health crises like the current one, this policy can make fundamental differences in the quality of life and life expectancy of the [...]Read the full article

From productive to kind cities: new urban planning that wants to change the world

23 March 2020

From productive to kind cities: new urban planning that wants to change the world

More than half of the world’s population is living in cities, a proportion set to reach 70 per cent by the year 2050, when one in six people will be over 65 – more than enough reason to redesign our streets to fit everyone’s needs.Read the full article

Julia Mourri: “We want to show the levers that exist to restore the place of the elderly in society”

24 February 2020

Julia Mourri: “We want to show the levers that exist to restore the place of the elderly in society”

“We often reduce seniors to economic cost or demographic burden. They are spoken of in a very dehumanising way and we wanted to change that by showing them as people in their own right, not just as clichés.”Read the full article

14 February 2020

Towards an intergenerational society

One (accidental and positive) effect of the economic crisis has been that it has led to new intergenerational relations. Young and old help and support each other in the framework of intergenerational living programmes.Read the full article

Can migrants, robots and retirees help to combat the demographic crisis in an ageing Japan?

28 October 2019

Can migrants, robots and retirees help to combat the demographic crisis in an ageing Japan?

Competition between countries for migrant labour is going to increase, so “simply opening the door is not enough. Laws are urgently needed to build a society in which foreign workers, migrants, can live. It’s in the national interest.”Read the full article

Retraining and upskilling: solutions for the future of (human) work?

29 July 2019

Retraining and upskilling: solutions for the future of (human) work?

In 2022, only 58 per cent of task hours will be performed by humans, and between now and then, workers will need to have dedicated an average of 101 days to retraining and upskilling. But who is going to pay for it? Employers? Governments? The workers [...]Read the full article

24 July 2019

As young Croatians head west, employers are looking to foreign and retired workers to tackle labour shortages

“Croatian trade unions are not xenophobic, but it is in nobody’s interest to see the brain drain continue while we import a much cheaper workforce. This can only serve the interests of employers.”Read the full article

4 July 2019

Croatian unions have won backing for a pension reform referendum – now it’s time to put it to the people

Dijana Šobota: The unions needed to gather 373,568 signatures (representative of 10 per cent of all Croatian voters) for the referendum to be held; we secured 748,624, more than twice the number required.Read the full article

“I don't want to go back into the closet” – what happens when gender identity and sexual orientation meet old age?

24 May 2019

“I don’t want to go back into the closet” – what happens when gender identity and sexual orientation meet old age?

For many years, the LGBTI community ignored its own elders. Today, the first generations that fought for equal rights are reaching retirement age and the issue has been forced on the community.Read the full article

Battling stereotypes against older people

10 May 2019

Battling stereotypes against older people

Older people are living longer and better than ever. Old age is nothing like what it used to be. Yet we are still trapped in the “age-stereotype paradox”. No matter how much it changes, society continues to attach the same stereotypes as ever to old age: illness, boredom, loneliness and [...]Read the full article

Should we be worried about the declining economic weight of income from labour?

18 April 2019

Should we be worried about the declining economic weight of income from labour?

Carmen Vizán Rodríguez: The decline in the labour share in the economy, linked to the shrinking of the state, globalisation, financialisation, technological change, corporate concentration and the fall in workers’ bargaining power, has major socioeconomic and political [...]Read the full article

Ukraine's healthcare system is in need of shock therapy

1 March 2019

Ukraine’s healthcare system is in need of shock therapy

Between a lack of investment and chronic corruption, Ukraine’s healthcare system has deteriorated significantly in recent years. For many Ukrainians – especially those with modest incomes – the best option is simply not to get sick.Read the full article

In social media-savvy Malta, artisans are opting for a more traditional approach to sales

14 January 2019

In social media-savvy Malta, artisans are opting for a more traditional approach to sales

While the gig economy continues to swallow up secure jobs, independent craftspersons worked on a ‘gig’ basis long before the digital shift.Read the full article

Financing decent pensions: a challenge for European states

10 December 2018

Financing decent pensions: a challenge for European states

Europe’s population is ageing and EU member states are looking for ways to ensure the sustainability of their pensions systems. But should this quest be limited to purely budgetary considerations?Read the full article

With its controversial pension reforms, Russia is looking after its rich

22 November 2018

With its controversial pension reforms, Russia is looking after its rich

Karine Clément: For many Putin supporters seduced by his image as protector of ordinary people, the evidence is now clear: the interests of the working and middle classes count for little compared to those of the economic and financial elites.Read the full article

8 November 2018

Ageism: the most acceptable form of human rights violation?

Nena Georgantzi : “There is something fundamentally flawed with those assumptions that consider the discrimination and exclusion of older people as more acceptable than the discrimination and exclusion of people on the ground of their gender, race or [...]Read the full article

2 August 2018

All the (44 million) lonely people

Today, scientists speak about loneliness as if it were a chronic disease. They say it is as harmful as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, that it kills more people than obesity.Read the full article

Can a new legal framework for worker coops address growing inequality in Japan?

5 July 2018

Can a new legal framework for worker coops address growing inequality in Japan?

Japan’s cooperative sector is one of the biggest in the world, with over 65 million members – nearly half of Japan’s 127 million-strong population – and over US$145 billion in yearly turnover.Read the full article

Can senior-run mediation sessions change attitudes towards domestic abuse in Senegal?

21 March 2018

Can senior-run mediation sessions change attitudes towards domestic abuse in Senegal?

“The cultural barriers are such that the woman must always support [their husband], whatever the extent of the violence, or risk being stigmatised by her own social circle.”Read the full article

As unprecedented strike action hits UK universities, pensions are only the tip of the iceberg

9 March 2018

As unprecedented strike action hits UK universities, pensions are only the tip of the iceberg

Some students are using the commodification of education to show solidarity with their striking lecturers. At King’s College, also University of London, some students are petitioning the university for a full refund of tuition fees for the days of strike [...]Read the full article

In the field with Kosovo's "bomb hunters"

15 February 2018

In the field with Kosovo’s "bomb hunters"

"We have found more than 40,000 bombs since 1999, clearing more than 15 square kilometres of land. Our target is to have a mine-free Kosovo for 2020, and to have it cleared of cluster bombs by 2024."Read the full article

5 October 2017

Care drain in the Balkans

With thousands of frustrated doctors across the Balkans having migrated west for better pay and working conditions in recent years, who will be left to heal future generations and ageing populations?Read the full article

Chileans protest against private pension scheme introduced under Pinochet

4 August 2017

Chileans protest against private pension scheme introduced under Pinochet

Tens of thousands of Chileans protest at a demonstration organised by the No More AFP movement, calling for an end to the Pension Fund Administrators (AFP) and the establishment of a social security system providing decent pensions.Read the full article

Meet the EU pensioners living on €82 a month

6 June 2017

Meet the EU pensioners living on €82 a month

“When I receive my pension, I first pay all my bills…whatever is left over of the leftover is for food.”Read the full article

Artists wanted, to bring villages back to life

4 April 2017

Artists wanted, to bring villages back to life

Culture is driving the revival of small rural communities in Europe on the verge of extinction.Read the full article

Growing old better by growing old amongst friends: the rise of third age cooperatives

13 February 2017

Growing old better by growing old amongst friends: the rise of third age cooperatives

Third age cooperatives in Denmark, Holland or Germany offer a new model of shared retirement. In Spain alone, 8.5 million people are aged over 65, and 87 per cent refuse to live in nursing homes.Read the full article

3 March 2016

No country for old Greeks

The opposition to the pensions overhaul has been unanimous, bringing together a disparate group of professions, including blue-collar and white-collar workers.Read the full article

16 December 2015