On July 13(th) 2010, Lazlo Andor (Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion) declared that active ageing could make the baby-boomers generation a part of the solution of the demographic problem, instead of identifying with it. This is the reason why the "Europe 2020" strategy draws the attention to the necessity of ensuring that the elderly will remain healthy and active for as long as possible. The purpose of this article is to define the exact concept of "active ageing", its content, as well as some beneficial tips by applying innovative programs in order to promote it in the European Union. Reading the published papers the impression is that despite the increasing number of the elderly in Europe, the potential of an active life while ageing can be beneficial in many ways for the society. It is required that the local and regional authorities create the appropriate conditions for participation, while making thoughtful use of the European funding programs.
1. Introduction / Christian Aspalter and Alan Walker -- 2. The concept of active ageing / Alan Walker -- 3. New perspectives for active ageing : the normative approach of developmental social policy / Christian Aspalter -- 4. Active ageing in South Korea / Sung-Jae Choi -- 5. Active ageing in Taiwan / Wan-I Lin -- 6. Active ageing in Hong Kong / Joe C.B. Leung -- 7. Active ageing in mainland China / Vivian W.Q. Lou -- 8. Active ageing in Malaysia / Sharifah Norazizan Syed Abdul Rashid -- 9. Active ageing in Singapore / Kalyani K. Mehta -- 10. Active ageing in Indonesia / Evi Nurvidya Arifin -- 11. Conclusion : the way forward for active ageing / Alan Walker and Christian Aspalter.
"East Asian societies are changing rapidly, and one of the most important facets of this transformation is the ageing of society. 'Active ageing' is one of the few concepts available today to effectively address the problems arising from a highly-aged and, particularly in East Asia, fast-ageing society, offering a new social policy paradigm to redirect and innovate new social policies, particularly social services, social transfers, social regulations and laws, towards more investment in and support of the fast rising number of elderly citizens. This book focuses on the experiences of East Asian societies where active ageing has been implemented. It presents a thorough analysis of the concept of active ageing and its potential and problems of implementations in different stages of development in East Asia, whilst providing theoretical clarity to, and broadening the concept of, active ageing. Further, the country-focused case studies explore how to design, pursue, measure and evaluate social policies, highlight the problems related to the implementation of the concept of active ageing in social policy and outline the practical implications of active ageing theory in policy making. Active Ageing in Asia will appeal to students and scholars of social and public policy, social work, gerontology and health and social administration, as well as to policy makers working in the field"--
"East Asian societies are changing rapidly, and one of the most important facets of this transformation is the ageing of society. 'Active ageing' is one of the few concepts available today to effectively address the problems arising from a highly-aged and, particularly in East Asia, fast-ageing society, offering a new social policy paradigm to redirect and innovate new social policies, particularly social services, social transfers, social regulations and laws, towards more investment in and support of the fast rising number of elderly citizens. This book focuses on the experiences of East Asian societies where active ageing has been implemented. It presents a thorough analysis of the concept of active ageing and its potential and problems of implementations in different stages of development in East Asia, whilst providing theoretical clarity to, and broadening the concept of, active ageing. Further, the country-focused case studies explore how to design, pursue, measure and evaluate social policies, highlight the problems related to the implementation of the concept of active ageing in social policy and outline the practical implications of active ageing theory in policy making. Active Ageing in Asia will appeal to students and scholars of social and public policy, social work, gerontology and health and social administration, as well as to policy makers working in the field""--
This study focuses on the concept of active ageing in the "Active Ageing: A Policy Framework" by World Health Organization. The purpose is to understand the meaning and the origins of the concept with the help of Foucauldian perspective. The analyzing method is content analysis guided by theory. The theoretical framework consists of Michel Foucault´s ideas about governmentality, subject and power and Nikolas Rose´s thoughts about governing. Gilles Deleuze´s control society is also part of the theoretical framework. The subject of active ageing needs to follow a regimen based on activity and health. Governmentality on the society level supports this subjectivity and thus connects them to the network of power; the special nature of the older population is recognized. Even though the concept is named "active ageing" the subjects do represent a wider age scale. These subjects need to prepare for the old age both economically and health-wise. This shows that the whole time of living, not only the old age, is medicalized. When it comes to the origins of the concept of active ageing and the user of power there is a connection to social gerontology and activity theory, and rationalities. The neoliberal rationality has affected on the knowledge that has been produced of the ageing and this is seen in the connection between the activity theory and active ageing. This, and the network structure of the different actors, makes it challenging to find the source of the power when it comes to the concept of active ageing.
Intro -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- 1: Towards an Evidence-Based Active Ageing Strategy -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Use of AAI for Policymaking -- 1.3 Subnational Adaptations of the AAI -- 1.4 Comparative Analysis of Active Ageing -- 1.5 Methodological Improvements in Measuring Active Ageing -- 1.6 Use of Active Ageing Index in Non-EU Countries -- References -- Part I: Building Evidence for Active Ageing Policies Active Ageing Index and its Potential -- 2: Are Societies with a High Value on the Active Ageing Index More Age Integrated? -- 2.1 Background -- 2.2 Conditions for Cross-age Interaction -- 2.2.1 Laws and Policies -- 2.2.2 Settings -- 2.2.3 Controls -- 2.3 Cross-age Interaction and Ageism -- 2.4 Method -- 2.4.1 Data -- 2.4.2 Measures -- 2.4.3 Analytical Strategy -- 2.5 Results -- 2.5.1 AAI and Settings Enabling Cross-age Interactions -- 2.5.2 Determinants of Cross-age Friendships -- 2.5.3 Cross-age Friendship and Ageism -- 2.6 Conclusion -- References -- 3: The Expected, Evaluated, Perceived, Valued and Prevalent Social Roles of Older People: Are They by Consent? -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 The Demography-Related Context and Roles Older People Are Expected to Play in Actively Ageing Societies -- 3.3 Social Roles in Higher Age -- 3.3.1 The Active Ageing Index as an Evaluation of Role Performance on the National Level -- 3.3.2 Roles to Play: As "Society" Sees It -- 3.3.3 Preferred Roles: From the Perspective of Older People Themselves -- 3.4 Expected, Evaluated, Perceived and Valued Roles: Are They by Consent? -- 3.5 Roles Played -- 3.6 Conclusions and Discussion -- References -- 4: The Active Ageing Index (AAI) and its Relation to the Quality of Life of Older Adults -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Methods, Data and Variables -- 4.3 Results -- 4.4 Discussion -- References.
Approaching a completely aged society, the Thai government attempts to promote active ageing in the elderly population. This article assesses Thailand's ageing schemes in the perspectives of Active Ageing Index (AAI). AAI is a composite index which reflects the overall living wellness of the elderly, covering their characteristics multi-dimensionally. The focus is to explore whether such schemes are in coherence with the behavioral attributes of the elderly in Thailand. The ordered logistic regression of data from the Survey of the Older Persons in 2017 recognizes influential behavioral attributes, emphasizing the need to revise policy perceptions. The findings show that variables related not only to health care and direct income provisions but also to decent choices of work, lifelong learning opportunities and community participation and involvement contribute to higher AAI level. Quantity-wise, Thailand has accomplished a wide coverage of health care and income security. Nevertheless, these policies remain passive and incoherent with the overall active ageing behavioral attributes. There is still a policy space to "actively" engage the elderly in the move. By increasing old-age-friendly infrastructures and market incentives in the forms of subsidies and tax schemes for the key players, namely, the elderly, themselves, and the business sectors will promote policy coherence.
Ageing takes place in Finland some 15 years earlier than in other European countries. The central actors in implementing active ageing policies are ministries that have been co-operating with each other. Active ageing policy in Finland has some of the advantages of networking in a small country, and also in the anticipation of the decrease in the share of the active population. First, all three central ministries, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Education co-operate with each other. The success of various ageing programmes is largely based on this. In other countries, ministries usually have independent policies. Second, social partners include representatives of employers' and employees' organisations, as the tradition of tripartite thinking is strong in Finland. Third, research organisations support the research. For example, in the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health ageing studies began as early as 1981. Fourth, active ageing policies also focus on firm-level issues in addition to measures implemented at the individual and society levels. Firms have a clear incentive to prevent pensioners on disability emerging, since firms themselves have to pay a large part of the eventual pension expenses. There are, however, also major setbacks. Active ageing programmes such as the Ageing Programme and the Well-Being at Work Programme have been implemented in Finland for a fixed time period. There is a threat that much of the networking is lost after the programmes terminate. The cooperation between ministries may also diminish in the future programmes. The major problem in Finland that is not solved by any well being programmes is that the routes to exit from work are too generous. A new work life reform to renew the values of work is also called for. Finally, the integration of worklife and family life is considered an important issue, but issues related to active non-work time are seldom considered. An example of active time use that is ignored is household work. Household work is on average one third of the labour income for men and two-thirds of the labour income for women at age 50-64. Finally, the state of senior citizen policy is not very good in Finland. Private organisations of pensioners are relatively inactive. – Retirement ; Ageing Policy ; Demographic Trends ; Väestön ikääntyminen alkaa Suomessa noin 15 vuotta aikaisemmin kuin muissa Euroopan maissa. Keskeiset toimijat ikääntymisohjelmissa ovat ministeriöt, jotka ovat toimineet yhteistyössä. Yhteistyötä on edesauttanut verkostojen luominen, mikä voi olla helpompaa pienessä maassa. Yksi esimerkki tästä on sosiaali- ja terveysministeriön, työministeriön ja opetusministeriön yhteistyö, johon eri aktiiviseen ikääntymiseen liittyvien ohjelmien onnistuminen on perustunut. Eri työmarkkinaosapuolet ovat myös osallistuneet aktiivisesti toimintaan, joka on siten perustunut pitkälle kolmikanta-ajatteluun. Tutkimuslaitokset ovat myös tukeneet tutkimusta. Esimerkkinä tästä on Työterveyslaitoksen ikääntymistutkimus, joka on saanut alkunsa jo vuonna 1981. Viimeinen tärkeä tekijä aktiiviseen ikääntymiseen tähtäävien ohjelmien onnistumiselle on yritystason toiminta. Muista maista poiketen yrityksillä on selvä kannustin välttää työkyvyttömyyttä, koska yritykset kantavat suuren osan työttömyyseläkkeiden kustannuksista. Aktiivisen ikääntymisen toimenpiteissä on kuitenkin myös omat puutteensa. Ensinnäkin ikääntymisohjelma ja työssä jaksamisen ohjelma on asetettu määräajaksi. Uhkana on, että verkosto ei jatka toimintaansa ohjelmakauden loputtua. On myös mahdollista, että ministeriöiden välinen yhteistyö ei ole riittävää tai vähenee tulevaisuudessa. Aktiivisen ikääntymisen tavoitteiden toteuttaminen edellyttää myös työmaailmaan liittyvän arvomaailman uudistamista, missä ei olla edistytty riittävästi. Yksi ongelma on myös se, että työn ja perhe-elämän yhteensovittaminen koetaan kyllä tärkeäksi, mutta kuitenkin toiminta rajoittuu yleensä työssä jaksamiseen eikä aktiivisuuteen myös työajan ulkopuolella. Yksi esimerkki ajankäytöstä, johon ei panna paljoakaan painoa, on kotitaloustyö. Kuitenkin esimerkiksi 50-64 -vuotiailla kotitaloustyön arvon on noin kolmasosa palkkatyön arvosta miehillä ja kaksi kolmasosaa palkkatyön arvosta naisilla. Voidaan myös todeta, että eläkeläisjärjestöjen aktiivisuus on varsin vähäistä.
AbstractMany voluntary organizations depend greatly on the unpaid services of older volunteers, a significant number of whom are women. At the same time, shifts in welfare policy have been towards emphasizing individual economic autonomy and self‐provisioning, often to the detriment of older, more vulnerable members of society. Using data from an organization working for and with older people in the North‐East of England and through in‐depth qualitative interviews, our study found that volunteering is an expression of citizenship for older people. In our analysis, we identify two strands in the meanings of citizenship for older people: volunteering as leisure and work, and volunteering as care and civic consciousness. These correspond with liberal conceptualizations of citizenship and republican models of citizenship. Data from our in‐depth interviews demonstrate a strong commitment to society and fellow citizens among older people that counterbalances individualistic and instrumental reasons for volunteering promoted by the state and market. Our findings suggest that government views of volunteering as a route to paid work, as a panacea for society and therefore needing to be more 'work‐like', are discordant with the perspectives of older volunteers. Rather than the neo‐liberal views of the 'citizen‐worker' or 'citizen‐consumer', citizenship that is based on the 'common good' and feminist perspectives of 'caring citizenship' are arguably more beneficial to society. Finally, we describe the pressures and constraints facing older people that could discourage formal volunteering in the future.
In: Lassen , A J & Moreira , T 2020 , ' New Bikes for the Old : Materialisations of Active Ageing ' , Science & Technology Studies , vol. 33 , no. 3 , pp. 39-56 . https://doi.org/10.23987/sts.77239
In the last 15 years, STS has established a research programme focused on the sociotechnical reconfiguration of later life, particularly as new political programmes aim to deploy 'active ageing' in contemporary societies. In Denmark, the bicycle is a key technology in this aim, because of how it articulates sustainable living, health and social participation. Thus, two new 'inclusive cycling' initiatives for older people have been developed. Drawing on ethnographic data, we explore the ways the bikes differ, and how they explicitly mobilise active ageing as a form of 'good old age' in different ways. We argue that whereas 'Cycling without Age' rickshaws attempt to assemble social participation for older people, 'Duo-Bikes' aims to enable capacities through physical activity in later life. We further explore what happens when these two schemes meet, and suggest how searching for a compromise will be necessary to enhance opportunities to cycle in later life. ; In the last 15 years, STS has established a research programme focused on the sociotechnical reconfiguration of later life, particularly as new political programmes aim to deploy 'active ageing' in contemporary societies. In Denmark, the bicycle is a key technology in this aim, because of how it articulates sustainable living, health and social participation. Thus, two new 'inclusive cycling' initiatives for older people have been developed. Drawing on ethnographic data, we explore the ways the bikes differ, and how they explicitly mobilise active ageing as a form of 'good old age' in different ways. We argue that whereas 'Cycling without Age' rickshaws attempt to assemble social participation for older people, 'Duo-Bikes' aim to enable capacities through physical activity in later life. We further explore what happens when these two schemes meet, and suggest how searching for a compromise will be necessary to enhance opportunities to cycle in later life.
In: Jensen , P H & Skjøtt-Larsen , J 2021 , ' Theoretical Challenges and Social Inequalities in Active Ageing ' , International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health , vol. 18 , no. 17 , 9156 . https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18179156
Active ageing has been discussed in international political organisations and among re-searchers as a major means for combatting the challenges of demographic ageing. This study aims to make a critical-theoretical and empirical assessment of the active ageing concept, challenging the active ageing discourse from two different angles. First, an assessment of the theoretical framework of active ageing shows that the conceptual framework is undertheorised, lacks conceptual and analytical clarity, and fails to propose clear contributing factors and barriers. The second part presents an empirical analysis of the concept of active ageing guided by the following research question: is active ageing realistic—and for whom? Using Danish data subjected to multiple correspondence analysis, it is found that active ageing at the individual level is preconditioned by health, education, having good finances, etc. Furthermore, a Matthew effect of accumulated advantage is found; that is, older adults who are blessed in one sphere of life are also blessed in others, and such inequalities in old age are the outcomes of social life biographies (i.e., cumulative advantages/disadvantages over the life course). Thus, empirical findings indicate that active ageing may be an elusive goal for a large segment of older adults.
The year 2012 is designated as the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. The aim of the year is to raise awareness of the position of older people in a manner where they can enjoy a better quality of life and still play an active role in society. There are good reasons for designating 2012 as such a year.The OECD has estimated that by the year 2050, more than 33% of men and 38% of women in the EU25 will be 60 years or older compared with 18% and 24%, respectively, for the year 2000. The European Statistical Office projects that by 2060, there will be only two people of working age (15–64) in the EU for every person aged over 65, compared with a ratio of 4 to 1 today. Keeping in mind that an increasing share of the youth between 15 and 30 are studying, the consequences of these figures are even more challenging.Many politicians are seriously concerned about financing of the pensions and welfare systems. Another concern is how to allocate sufficient healthcare personnel to give the ageing population a decent service. These challenges are good reasons for the EU to include "solidarity between generations" as an element in the activity of this year.This special issue on active ageing is a contribution from the Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies to the year of active ageing. The articles examine work and ageing from different angles and horizons of understanding. Together, the articles question some of the myths that exist on ageing and work and assess some of the actions being taken to keep older workers in employment. This issue is therefore an important contribution to the development of our understanding of active ageing and measures used to develop an active ageing policy (.)
Ensuring active ageing, i.e. the optimisation of opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life as people age, is an important growth strategy for the EU. Achieving a successful active ageing policy will require a sea change in thinking about what ageing means in both economic and social terms.