Suchergebnisse

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.

The aim of this paper is to analyse active ageing and retirement in Finland at both the individual worker level and the firm level. The Finnish pension system will undergo some remarkable changes from the year 2005 on: the whole of an individual's working life will determine his or her pension income, there will be higher accruals for postponed retirement as of age 63 with a flexible retirement age of 63-68, and pension levels will be automatically corrected, depending on changes in life expectancy. The desired effect of these new pension rules is that the average retirement age would increase by three years from the current 59 years, but the real labour market effects of the pension reform remain unclear. Based on the interviews that have been conducted, large Finnish firms do not believe that the new pension system will have much effect on the retirement age. Some firms have started to implement their own programmes to improve the longer employability of older workers. The organisations that have experienced large changes and adopted new technology have implemented an active ageing policy more successfully than the others. ; Tässä tutkimuksessa analysoidaan suomalaisten työntekijöiden eläkkeelle siirtymistä ja yritysten eläkestrategioita aktiivisen ikääntymisen näkökulmasta. Suomalainen eläkejärjestelmä tulee uudistumaan vuodesta 2005 alkaen niin, että eläke määräytyy koko työssäoloajan tuloista, kertymäprosentti kasvaa ikävuodesta 63 alkaen eläkkeelle siirtymisen ollessa joustavaa ikävuosina 63-68 ja eläkkeiden tasoa tullaan korjaamaan eliniän odotteen muutosten mukaan. Näiden uudistusten tavoitteena on nostaa keskimääräistä eläkeikää kolmella vuodella nykyisestä 59 vuodesta, mutta todellisia vaikutuksia eläkekäyttäytymiseen ovat vielä vaikeaa ennustaa. Suuret suomalaisyritykset eivät haastattelujen perusteella usko uuden eläkejärjestelmän vaikuttavan eläkeikää nostavasti ja jotkut yritykset ovat käynnistäneet omia aktiivista ikääntymistä tukevia ohjelmiaan. Aktiivisen ikääntymisen ohjelmat ovat onnistuneet parhaiten sellaisissa yrityksissä, jotka ovat läpikäyneet suuria organisaatiomuutoksia ja hyödyntävät uutta teknologiaa.

PurposeThis article attempts to match the future needs of older people with the possibilities arising from applications based on new technology.Design/methodology/approachThis article examines the implications of novel applications for active ageing policy. These applications are forecast to arise from the convergence of two or more previously separated science disciplines and technologies, including information and communication technologies, nanotechnologies, biotechnology and cognitive sciences.FindingsResearch on converging applications (CA) is largely driven by health applications, and is likely to spill over into the older generation's specific needs. Today, older people's most urgent needs require little CA. In the future, however, the role of CA will become more important as technology develops and is more widely used.Originality/valueOwing to demographic change and its expected social and economic implications, there is a need to investigate how upcoming applications could contribute to the future specific needs of the older population.

The article explores the trend towards early exit that has established itself over the last decades in most European countries, and the policies that 10 countries (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the UK) have developed to tackle that problem. The research question is whether those reforms contribute to active ageing. The authors also analyse factors that may foster or hinder the success of pension reforms in achieving higher effective retirement ages. Among those factors, individual workers' retirement preferences, company policies, and general employment levels are of particular importance.

The article explores the trend towards early exit that has established itself over the last decades in most European countries, and the policies that 10 countries (Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and the UK) have developed to tackle that problem. The research question is whether those reforms contribute to active ageing. The authors also analyse factors that may foster or hinder the success of pension reforms in achieving higher effective retirement ages. Among those factors, individual workers' retirement preferences, company policies, and general employment levels are of particular importance. Adapted from the source document.