Older Workers in a Globalizing World


Book Description

. . . the book can be recommended to all with an interest in the issue of older workers in a globalised world. Ageing and Society Early retirement has been a policy to cope with the problems of massive unemployment in many Western welfare states. However, it has become apparent that this strategy is costly and destroys human capital urgently needed in ageing societies. This book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date study of late-career patterns and processes of early retirement in fourteen OECD countries, using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data. It is an important contribution to life-course research and will provide the foundation for any serious discussion on pension reforms and increasing the employability of older workers. Hans-Jürgen Andreß, University of Cologne, Germany This timely book investigates the growth of the early retirement trend and its varying spread among different groups of older workers in fourteen modern societies. It argues for a differentiated political approach to reverse early retirement, which relies on both pension and employability policies for older workers. Examining the early retirement trend virtually all modern societies have been faced with since the onset of the globalization process in the 1970s and 1980s, this book provides a thorough analysis of older workers late careers and their retirement transitions, as well as explaining why this trend has developed differently between nations. To promote an effective reversal of the early retirement trend, national policymakers are advised not to concentrate their efforts exclusively on reducing the financial incentives for an early exit still present in most national pension systems. In addition, it is also recommended that they invest in the employability of older workers, implying a thorough reconsideration of the design of education and labor market policies. Dirk Hofäcker presents a unique and comprehensive synthesis of theories describing and explaining the trend towards early retirement, and critically discusses their comparative advantages and shortcomings. Researchers and students of sociology, economics, gerontology, demography and comparative welfare states should not be without this book and policymakers and practitioners dealing with labor market policies will find it invaluable.




Managing the Older Worker


Book Description

Your organization needs older workers more than ever: They transfer knowledge between generations, transmit your company's values to new hires, make excellent mentors for younger employees, and provide a "just in time" workforce for special projects. Yet more of these workers are reporting to people younger than they are. This presents unfamiliar challenges that--if ignored--can prevent you from attracting, retaining, and engaging older employees. In Managing the Older Worker, Peter Cappelli and William Novelli explain how companies and younger managers can maximize the value provided by older workers. The key? Recognize that boomers' needs differ from younger generations - and adapt your management practices accordingly. For instance: · Lead with mission: As employees age, they become more altruistic. Emphasize the positive impact of older workers' efforts on the world around them. · Forge social connections: Many older employees keep working to maintain social relationships. Offer tasks that require interaction with others. · Provide different benefits: Tailor benefits--such as elder-care insurance programs or discount medication--to older workers' interests. Drawing on research in management, psychology, and other disciplines, Managing the Older Worker reveals who your older workers are, what they want, and how to manage them for maximum value.




Contemporary Perspectives on Ageism


Book Description

This open access book provides a comprehensive perspective on the concept of ageism, its origins, the manifestation and consequences of ageism, as well as ways to respond to and research ageism. The book represents a collaborative effort of researchers from over 20 countries and a variety of disciplines, including, psychology, sociology, gerontology, geriatrics, pharmacology, law, geography, design, engineering, policy and media studies. The contributors have collaborated to produce a truly stimulating and educating book on ageism which brings a clear overview of the state of the art in the field. The book serves as a catalyst to generate research, policy and public interest in the field of ageism and to reconstruct the image of old age and will be of interest to researchers and students in gerontology and geriatrics.




Older Workers and Labour Market Exclusion Processes


Book Description

This open access book addresses the important and neglected question of older workers who are excluded from the labour market. It challenges post-capitalist discourses of active ageing with a focus on restrictive end-of-career and retirement measures. The book demonstrates how a paradigm shift is generating real processes of exclusion for important sectors of the population. By providing strong empirical evidence from different contexts, the impact of different life course trajectories on the risks and the opportunities at the end of career are demonstrated. The organisation of workplace and institutional frameworks which reinforce inequalities are also presented. As such the book is an essential reading for students, academics and policy makers who seek to understand how exclusion processes operate to the disadvantage of older workers in the labour market.




Aging Social Policies


Book Description

Due to population explosion and a global increase in average life expectancies, an unprecedentedly high percentage of the world's population is aging. By the middle of this century there will be up to 2 billion individuals over the age of 65, a demographic shift never before experienced in our human history. In addition, declining birth rates in industrialized countries means a decrease in the number of adults under 64. In Aging Social Policies: An International Perspective the authors consider how policy – domestic and international – affects and will continue to affect the lives of our aging population.




Globalization, Uncertainty and Late Careers in Society


Book Description

Globalization has been strongly shaping and transforming both national economies and individual careers in recent decades. These profound changes have had significant consequences for individual careers of men and women both during and after their employment career. This impressive new collection focuses on the effects of the globalization process on late-midlife workers and the exit from employment – a relationship that has up to now mostly been neglected in social science literature on aging and employment. The research documented within these pages poses several important questions: * Has globalization produced fundamental shifts in late-midlife workers’ labor market participation and late careers? * What transformations in old age career mobility can we observe? * How are these transformations filtered by different national institutional settings? With an impressive array of contributions, this volume will interest students and academics involved in the study of sociology, welfare and globalization.







Advancing Aging Policy as the 21st Century Begins


Book Description

By the end of the current decade, many baby boomers will be senior citizens. What policies should we enact to prepare for an aging society?In the coming decade, we have a unique opportunity to create new and better aging policies. This collection of twenty essays by prominent educators, researchers, and policy analysts in the field of gerontology brings together innovative ideas from the United States, Europe, and Japan. Instead of focusing on utopian dreams, these exciting proposals are based on policy changes that may well be attainable in the next ten years. The vital concerns addressed in Advancing Aging Policy as the 21st Century Begins include work and retirement issues, the aging prison population, long-term care, Latino elders, transportation, death and dying issues, and the aging of the baby boom generation. Advancing Aging Policy as the 21st Century Begins explores: innovative policies and care arrangements around the world the importance of a strong economy that provides opportunities for seniors who seek them and support for those who need it the need for flexible retirement and employment policies for older adults the connections between family policy and aging policy the importance of improving training and compensation for workers in long-term care the special needs of our diverse and rapidly growing population of older people the importance of focusing aging policy on people rather than on programsThis forward-looking book on policy and aging in the coming decade puts the experience and insight of leaders in the field from around the world in your hands. Policymakers, educators, and students of gerontology will find it an invaluable resource.




Global Ageing in the Twenty-First Century


Book Description

Population ageing - a growth in the proportion of a population that is in older age - is now occurring in every region and nearly every country of the world. Indeed, the growth of older populations is among the important global phenomena of the twenty-first century. It poses both opportunities and challenges for societies and policy makers, but these are far from uniform worldwide. Dynamic factors are at work impacting on how ageing will influence people, places and policies and there are large variations in the rate and timing of population ageing across countries, owing to differing social, health and economic circumstances and a variety of policy options from which to choose. Given this variation in the context of global ageing as a backdrop, this edited book focuses on three overarching themes that are among the most critical to understand if societies are to age successfully in the twenty-first century and beyond: Healthy ageing and health care; the ageing workforce, retirement and the provision of pensions; shifting intergenerational relations. These three themes are cross-cut by other dimensions that are intertwined with the dynamic processes of ageing, such as immigration/emigration, contrasting policy regimes and global and national economic forces. This ground-breaking book will be of interest to all scholars, students and policy-makers working within this area of study.




Ageing and Globalisation


Book Description

Population ageing and globalisation represent two of the most radical social transformations that have occurred. This book provides, for the first time, an accessible overview of how they interact. Ageing has been conventionally framed within the boundaries of nation states, yet demographic changes, transmigration, financial globalization and the global media have rendered this perspective problematic. This much-needed book is the first to apply theories of globalisation to gerontology, including Appadurai’s theory, allowing readers to understand the implications of growing older in a global age. This comprehensive introduction to globalisation for gerontologists is part of the Ageing in a Global Context series, published in association with the British Society of Gerontology. It will be of particular interest to advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students and academics in this area.