WUNRN
ILO - International Labour
Organization
ILO
GENDER EQUALITY CAMPAIGN - NEED FOR RIGHTS,
JOBS
& SOCIAL SECURITY FOR OLDER WOMEN & MEN
GENEVA
(ILO News) ─
Despite increasing international attention to ageing societies and older
persons, in many societies, older persons and especially older women, still
face age discrimination in the workplace and lack access to rights, jobs and
social security, the International Labour Office (ILO) said today on the
occasion of the International Day of Older Persons.
“We need new age solutions to old age problems, especially for older women”, says Jane Hodges, Director of the ILO Bureau for Gender Equality. “Women in old age are particularly vulnerable because they are often stuck in unpaid, low-paid or part-time and precarious work. As a result women often lack any form of pensions, rights or other social benefits enjoyed by men. What is more, their lower pay engenders an endless cycle of gender-based poverty.”
The rights of older workers have long been on the agenda of the ILO. The Older Workers Recommendation, 1980 (No. 162) specifically applies to all workers, women and men, who are liable to encounter difficulties in employment and occupation because of advancement in age.
The Madrid International Plan of Action on Aging (2002) has made it clear that in order to build a society fit for people of all ages the international community needs to rethink the conventional course of working life.
Older persons should be able to choose to work, be it full- or part-time, and benefit from social security, old-age benefits, retirement benefits or long-service benefits. However, in many countries, the absence or low coverage of social protection systems compel older women and men to continue working, often in the informal economy and in precarious conditions, in order to afford a decent living.
Access to retirement through adequate pensions and health care is part of the ILO’s core mandate and an integral component of its Decent Work Agenda. The ILO’s Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102) sets minimum standards for a comprehensive social security system. The ILO Social Security Department promotes this and other relevant conventions through its Global Campaign to extend social security to all women and men.
In June 2009, changing demographics and gender equality in the world of work are both to be discussed at the ILO’s annual International Labour Conference in Geneva.
______________________________________________________________________
Direct Link to ILO Publication:
RIGHTS, JOBS & SOCIAL SECURITY:
NEW VISIONS FOR OLDER WOMEN &
MEN
October
2008 Theme of the Gender Equality at the Heart of Decent Work Campaign,
2008-2009
Increases in life expectancy involve changes in the entire life cycle. One fundamental change that has been noted is a shift from three-generation societies to four-generation societies. Many of today’s grandparents remain engaged, mobile and active. Traditional characteristics attributed to “seniors” are shifting to an older age bracket (seventies and eighties). But as the majority of the world’s population does not have entitlements to any form of old-age pension, for many living longer also means living with scarcity for longer periods of time. Poverty in old age is a key issue of concern.
Because women live longer than men, they form the majority of older persons (55 percent). Currently, women outnumber men by about 70 million among those aged 60 years or over. In the last 50 years, global life expectancy of women has increased from 48 to 67 years, as compared to 45 to 63 years for men. Poverty in old age has a strong gender dimension. Life expectancy for women is higher than for men; therefore, women may be in poverty for a longer period of their lives. A woman’s chance of losing her partner is higher, and women are less likely to remarry than men. Women over 60 who have lost their partners greatly outnumber their male equivalents.
Throughout their life cycles, women accumulate disadvantages that pile up at older ages. Double or triple discrimination is often amplified as women advance in age. Women are especially vulnerable owing to their high numbers in unpaid, low-paid, part-time, frequently interrupted, or informal economy work. As a result they are less often entitled to any contributory pension benefits in their own right. Even if they are, their pensions are often significantly lower than those of men due to lower earnings and shorter contribution periods.
A society for all ages requires rethinking the conventional course of working life. It entails introducing more flexible and tailored working patterns, yet at the same ensuring that people have both the right to continue working if they so wish and the right to retire in an affordable manner if they do not wish to continue an economically active life. There needs to be a shift from competition to solidarity among working age groups and to remove the employment barriers facing older people.
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