1° Convention (UE 2020) à Cracovie (Présidence de la Pologne) Atelier Personnes Agées (Oct 2011)

Commission and AGE Draft

The first Annual Convention of the European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion 17-18 October 2011, Krakow

Workshops & Suggestions for future actions

General introduction

As part of the Europe 2020 Strategy, the EU has a set of headline targets including one for poverty reduction over the next decade. It would be difficult to reach the overall poverty target without an in-depth analysis of the poverty risk among older people. The successful reduction of poverty among older people is not only directly correlated with employment during working lives, but also depends to a high degree on the adequacy of pensions and minimum old age-age schemes and access to and affordability of services during retirement.

Moreover, the analysis of measures to prevent old-age poverty should not be limited to the capacity of social protection schemes to cover replacement of working age income. The aim must be to take into account the fact that adequacy of income and social services apply for a longer period of life as a pensioner, sometimes more than 40 years is spent in retirement. It is also important to look at the overall well-being which depends on access to community services and avoiding isolation.

Key messages:

• Because EU countries differ so considerably in terms of poverty risks among older people, it is crucial to use different methods of poverty measurement which can help to capture different facets of poverty and social exclusion among older people at the national and local level.

• Whilst both older women and men suffer from inequalities in terms of social protection, women are additionally affected by their fertility history, as well as by informal caring responsibilities which restrict their access to good quality employment.

• Adequacy of pensions has to remain the key objective of further social protection reforms to guarantee a decent life throughout retirement i.e. many of those who retired with an adequate pension then slip gradually into poverty as a result of lack of adequate pension indexation.

• The European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion should support the European Year 2012 and use it as a momentum to strengthen the national social inclusion strategies and help create an age-friendly environment across EU.

Concrete suggestions for future actions:

• Measuring poverty:
• Need to define and develop measures of adequate standards of living - particularly by using national budget standards.
• Monetary poverty indicators should be supplemented with non-financial wider measures of social exclusion, such as access to quality health and long-term care, decent housing, transport, long-life learning, social or civic participation, etc.
• Better evidence towards poverty of the most vulnerable groups such as migrant older people, Roma people in particular.

• Labour market:
• Improve employers’ attitudes in hiring and retaining older workers, provide training opportunities and appropriate age management in work.
• Provide compensation for family care duties in accumulating pension rights.
• Develop an index on active ageing measuring the evolution in people’s needs and aspirations and working capacities (in market and non-market activities) as they age

• Pension systems:
• Public pensions should be targeted towards poverty prevention among older people and social safety net provided with due regard for dignity and avoiding stigma.
• In times of austerity the minimum income provisions need appropriate indexing to maintain purchasing power in line with society’s progress and to prevent poverty trap as a result of the erosion of their income over time.
• Provision of sufficient contribution credits in career disruptions due to care responsibilities, bared mainly by women, without negatively affecting the incentives to return to formal work.

• Social inclusion:
• Individual well-being and quality of life in old age should be strengthened through universal access to essential services i.e. based on quality standards for health provisions and long-term care Fight against isolation and loneliness among older people through social integration measures in communities should be among priorities for social inclusion strategies
• Housing, urban planning, technology and mobility plans are also essential when promoting social inclusion of an ageing population

For more information, please see:

www.age-platform.eu (in particular the section on social inclusion)

Contact:

Maciej Kucharczyk (email: maciej.kucharczyk@age-platform.eu)

Jean-Pierre Bultez (email: jeanpierre.bultez@gmail.com)

Asghar Zaidi (email: zaidi@euro.centre.org )