The world's wealthiest countries should reverse a trend of early retirement or face labor shortages, slower growth and ballooning social security bills, a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) said Wednesday.
Workers over 50, with their wealth of experience, can offer tremendous value to business and society, but they are often discouraged from working or developing their skills, said the Paris-based OECD, which represents 30 industrialized countries.
These were among the key conclusions the OECD said it had found in a series of country-by-country evaluations of the policies influencing the work and retirement decisions of older people.
The OECD said it would release a series of 20 country reports over the next two years in which it will propose comprehensive measures for governments, employers and trade unions to take to counter the problem.
These measures include reforming pension and social benefits, implementing new pay and employment practices in the workplace, and improving opportunities to upgrade skills and remain active longer.
The OECD warning on the dangers of wasting the potential of the elderly coincided with Wednesday's rejection by French unions of the government's proposals to overhaul the pension system.
One of the proposals suggests an easing of restrictions on older workers.
The first two OECD country reports, focusing on Sweden and Belgium, illustrate the difficulties facing many OECD countries and the types of measures required to improve job prospects of workers aged 50 and over, the organisation said.
Sweden has one of the oldest populations of all OECD member countries. Although recent substantial reform of the pension system in Sweden should strengthen incentives to later retirement, more action is needed, the OECD said.
For its part, Belgium stands at an important crossroads, the OECD said. After encouraging early retirement for more than two decades as a way to minimise the impact on unemployment of adverse economic and social shocks, the country needs to reverse course and promote longer working lives.
In 2001, just 41 percent of Belgians between the ages of 50 and 64 were working, 14 percentage points below the OECD average.
Belgium urgently needs comprehensive reforms that give older workers incentives to remain active, the OECD said, and the government should announce its intention to stop subsidising early retirement schemes.
Other country reports to be released soon were for Spain, Switzerland, South Korea and Japan. Reports were also planned for Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Britain and the US.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
Four former Hong Kong opposition lawmakers jailed in the territory’s largest national security case were released yesterday after more than four years in prison, the first among dozens convicted last year to regain their freedom. Former legislators Claudia Mo (毛孟靜), Jeremy Tam (譚文豪), Kwok Ka-ki (郭家麒) and Gary Fan (范國威) were part of a group of 47 public figures — including some of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy advocates — who were charged with subversion in 2021 for holding an informal primary election. The case fell under a National Security Law imposed on the territory by Beijng, and drew international condemnation and warnings