Canada: Survey Finds Most Canadians Not Saving Enough for Retirement

Most Canadians are concerned they have not saved enough to sustain them through retirement, according to findings from a Conference Board of Canada report. In "A Survey of Non-retirees and Retirees in Canada: Retirement Perspectives and Plans," 60% of those 55-64 years of age, and a little over 40% of those aged 65+ report that they have not put enough money aside, and these numbers are lower for women and those with lower levels of household income. The Board also has published a companion report—"An Employer's Perspective: Retirement Savings and Preparedness"—examining employers' views on the retirement preparedness of their employees, and retirement savings plans and practices among Canadian organizations.

The effect of this is that over one-third of Canadians say they don't know when they'll be able to retire. In addition, the report finds that the average planned age of retirement was 63.2 years of age. Women (83.5%) were more uncertain than men (69.8%) regarding their planned future retirement, and up to 19% of respondents say they will never retire.

Concern over inadequate retirement savings has already led a good number of Canadians to delay their retirement. More than one in five respondents have decided to retire later than their initial plan five years ago. Furthermore, a full 45.6 per cent of respondents say they plan to continue to work part-time or on a contract basis after their official retirement, and the percentage increases with age. About 51 per cent of those aged 45-64, and 60 per cent of those aged 65+ say they will continue working past their official retirement date.

In the report on the perspective of employers, the Board reports that more than 40% of employers believe their employees are too optimistic in their assessment of when they will be able to retire, and close to 50% feel their employees are unaware of how much savings are needed for retirement.

Source: Conference Board of Canada Press Release (October 27, 2014)

United Kingdom: Prince Charles's Group Issues Report on Older Workers and Unemployment

In the United Kingdom, the Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise (PRIME) and Business In The Community, which are looking at unemployment among the over 50's, have, with the International Longevity Centre, released the first of three reports looking at the economic barriers facing the over 50s. "The missing million: illuminating the employment challenges of the over 50s" reports that, of the 3.3 million economically inactive people aged 50-64, approximately 1 million people have been made "involuntarily workless" (pushed out of their previous job as a result of "shocks," a combination of redundancy, ill health or early retirement), which has created a group of millions of over 50s are not working but would like to and are not receiving the help they need.

In addition, the report finds that helping people aged over 50 are helped back into employment does not mean that younger people are crowded out of the labor market, but rather could lead to a potential £88 billion boost to the UK GDP.

Two further reports are expected to be published following this paper on employment solutions and benefits of maintaining an older workforce.

Sources: International Longevity Centre Press Release (October 23, 2014); PRIIME News Release (October 23, 2014)

Switzerland: OECD Reports Calls for Greater Efforts To Help Older Workers Stay at Work

The OECD has issued a report finding that Switzerland should do more to help older people, especially women, work longer in order to meet the challenge of a rapidly aging population. According to "Working Better with Age in Switzerland," while Switzerland has one of the highest employment rates for older workers in the OECD (in 2012, 70.5% of Swiss aged 55-64 were in work), the rate is much lower for women (61.5%), particularly if they are non-graduates (49%). In addition, the report notes that, once older workers lose their jobs, it is often difficult for them to get back into the labor market: 59% of unemployed Swiss workers aged over 55 had been out of work for more than 12 months in 2012, up from 40% a decade ago and above the OECD average of 47%.

Accordingly, the OECD recommends that Switzerland (in order of priority):

• help women by promoting their employability, make it easier for them to balance work and family life throughout their careers and remove work disincentives in the tax system and the pension system;
• make training more attractive for low-skilled workers and encourage enterprises to keep training them until the end of their careers;
• encourage social partners and pension funds to reduce incentives for early retirement in their second pillar schemes;
• support the action of the Public Employment Service in helping older workers, particularly aged 60-64, find stable jobs;
• improve the targeting of social assistance budgets for the older unemployed to help them back into work;
• encourage social partners to link pay more to experience and performance than age;and
• combat age discrimination (which remains legal in Switzerland, and is quite common.

Source: OECD News Release (October 23, 2014)

New Zealand: Conference Addresses Employment of Older Women

New Zealand's National Advisory Council on the Employment of Women (NACEW) held a conference on "Employment of Older New Zealand Women" at which, among other things, results of research were presented, showing that there's a large number working low-paid and physically demanding shift work. In "The Employment of Older NZ Women", the study commissioned by NACEW, economist Paul Callister suggests that the rates of older women in the workforce, which have shot up from 2% of those aged 65 or more 20 years ago to 15% today, could top 30% in a further 20 years.

Combining the recent trends in education with the projected demographic change shows there is a large ‘bulge’ of mid-life women workers, most of whom are working full time and many of whom are well educated, who are moving towards traditional ages of retirement. Depending on their choices and opportunities in the labour market, in the short term this may lift the employment rates of older women. But in the longer term, this group will continue ageing and will move into age groups where employment rates are very low.

While presenting various data, comparing ages, education, region, and Maori, the paper does not make any specific recommendations. However it does suggest that relatively little is known about the employment of older women, and that one important issue for further research is the relative employment related earnings of older women and men.

At the conference, Traci Houpapa, NAECW chief executive, was quoted as saying that ageism is a major barrier to older women wanting to work: "Age discrimination can also have an impact, reducing the ability of older workers to change careers later in life if issues start to occur, therefore more flexible, sustainable employment is required to enable older workers to stay in the labour force."

According to another report, Minister for Women Louise Upston said the economy was strengthening but, as the employment market tightened, there would be increasing demand from employers for on-job training for staff who did not have formal qualifications.

Sources: TVNZ One News "Concerns raised for ageing female workers" (October 22, 2014); Stuff.co.nz "Working women 65 and older set to double" (October 22, 2014)

Survey Looks at "Generation 2.0" Gap between Younger and Older Employees in the Workplace, and Mentoring Needs

According to a survey conducted by Harris for Ricoh-USA, intergenerational tensions resonate in today's U.S. workplace as many younger workers question older colleagues' competence and many older workers question younger workers' commitment. Referring to this as "Generation 2.0," the survey found that:

• 69% of those surveyed say younger workers are frustrating when it comes to work ethic;
  
• 48% say the younger employees usually have to help older ones at their place of employment use technology; and
  
• when workers are asked to identify which generations make the best mentors, they generally choose their own generation. In fact, those 18-34 (27%) are three times as likely as those ages 35-44 (8%), 45-54 (4%), and 55-64 (5%) to cite Gen Y (also known as Millennials) as the best.

According to Terrie Campbell, Vice President, Strategic Marketing, Ricoh Americas Corporation, "although Generation Gap 2.0 doesn't pervade the culture like the original generation gap did, it's no less a real phenomenon."

"We recommend companies take a hard look at whether their business information is working for employees of every workstyle," said Campbell. "At the same time, companies should configure their mentorship and training programs with generational differences in mind. They need to ensure that older workers have a comfort level with using technology effectively and that younger workers develop the people skills that previous generations have valued. There's a lot for employees to learn from one another."

Source: Ricoh-USA News Release (October 21, 2014)

Related Source:

Germany: Court Rules that Older Workers May Be Given More Vacation Time than Younger Workers

Germany's Federal Labor Court has issued a ruling that allows an employer of older workers to give more vacation days annually than the younger ones, finding that this difference in treatment on grounds of age can, from the viewpoint of protection of older employees in accordance with discrimination law, be permitted. In this case, a shoe manufacturer, decided that work in its production operation was physically tiring, to allot two extra vacation days to employees after 58 years of age, to allow for longer recovery times than younger workers.

According to one report, a court spokesman said that this kind of differentiation would have to be decided on a case-by-case basis, as different types of work placed different strains on workers.

Sources: Federal Labor Court Press Release No. 57/14 (October 21, 2014); The Local "Older workers can have extra days off, court says" (October 21, 2014)

Research: Effect of Early Retirement and Part-time Employment on Participation Rates of Older Workers in Europe

The results of a study analyzing the variation in labor market withdrawal of older workers across 13 European countries over the period 1995-2008 has been published. In "Early retirement across Europe. Does non-standard employment increase participation of older workers?," Jim Been and Olaf Van Vliet sought "to contribute to existing macro-econometric studies by taking non-standard employment into account, by relating the empirical model more explicitly to optional value model theory on retirement decisions and by using a two-step IV-GMM estimator to deal with endogeneity issues."

Their analysis, published as Netspar Discussion Paper No. 10-2014-044 led Been and Van Vliet to the conclusion that part-time employment is negatively related to labor market withdrawal of older men. This relationship is less strong among women. In addition, they found that part-time employment at older ages does not decrease the average actual hours worked. Furthermore, the results show a positive relationship between unemployment among older workers and early retirement similar to previous studies.

As a wider implication, our results suggest that facilitating part-time work might contribute to higher labor market participation among older workers at the extensive margin. However, facilitating part-time employment could also induce a reduction in working hours among persons who would otherwise have remained working in full-time employment. Our analysis suggests that increases in part-time employment did not have negative effects on the labor supply at the intensive margin across countries. For men, the results even suggest clear positive effects. This indicates that part-time work schemes may actually increase the labor supply at both the extensive and the intensive margin at older ages.

Source: Social Science Research Network Abstract (October 15, 2014)

United Kingdom: Survey Finds Gen Y Employees with Negative Attitude Toward Older Workers, Flextime

According to research conducted for the United Kingdom law firm Doyle Clayton, Generation Y employees have the most negative attitudes towards older employees and part-time and flexible workers. In addition, "Age Before Beauty? The Challenges Facing Britain's Managers in Overcoming Age and Gender Discrimination in the Workplace" reports that, according to their employees, micro businesses are Britain’s least discriminatory workplaces, and mid-sized businesses are where you are most likely to experience discrimination at work.

Among the key findings from "Age Before Beauty?" are:

• in micro businesses (1-9 employees), 96% of employees feel that age discrimination has never been an issue;
• in medium sized (50 – 249) and larger businesses, over 20% of employees had witnessed discrimination on grounds of age, whereas in micro businesses virtually no employee interviewed had witnessed it;
• 20% of employees at medium sized and large businesses view colleagues who work flexibly as less committed, whereas employees at micro businesses were consistently more positive; and
• Generation Y have the most discriminatory attitude toward flexible working and older workers, with 27.4% of those aged 25 to 34 seeing fellow employee working part-time as less committed, 31.1% seeing those working from home two or more days a week as less committed, and 18.3% (more than twice any other age group) seeing workers over 60 as less valuable.

Source: Doyle Clayton News (September 2, 2014)

Aging Workforce Issues Come To the Comics Page

I don't know how long this story line will go on, but starting with the July 28, 2014, strip "Judge Parker," older workers are being looked at as a means of building new business with lower labor costs.

In this instance, senior citizens are being targeted for their decreased need for health care and pensions. It will be interesting to see what transpires, but the concept that the seniors that need work might be the ones without health care and pensions seems to be missing.

Source: Washington Post Judge Parker (July 28, 2014)

United Kingdom: Government Appoints Business Champion for Older Workers

Dr. Ros Altmann CBE has been appointed by the United Kingdom government as its new Business Champion for Older Workers. A former director-general of Saga and independent expert on later life issues, Dr. Altmann is tasked with making the case for older workers within the business community and challenging outdated perceptions. Her appointment follows the government’s publication of "Fuller Working Lives – A Framework For Action," which set out the benefits to individuals, business and the economy as a whole of people aged over 50 staying in work.

In making the appointment, Minister of Work and Pensions Steve Webb MP, said that he "wanted a powerful voice; someone respected amongst the business community, with a track record of speaking up for consumer rights without fear or favour. In Dr Ros Altmann that’s exactly what we have." Dr. Altmann said:

I am really proud to be taking on this new role and look forward to championing over 50s in the workplace. This fast-growing section of society has so much experience and talent to offer and could play a vital role in future growth. Everyone can benefit from ensuring their skills do not go to waste. I also look forward to challenging some of the outdated and downright inaccurate perceptions of later life workers who still have so much to offer.

Source: United Kingdom Department of Work and Pensions Press Release (July 14, 2014)

Midwestern United States: Immigration Helping To Overcome Population Loss and Aging Workforce

The Chicago Council on Global Affairs has issued a report finding that immigration is a demographic lifeline for metropolitan areas throughout the 12-state Midwest region, helping to overcome population decline and an aging workforce. According to "Growing the Heartland: How Immigrants Offset Population Decline and an Aging Workforce in
Midwest Metropolitan Areas," authored by Rob Paral, the number of native-born persons aged 35 to 44—in their prime working and tax-paying years—fell by 1.4 million from 2000 to 2010 in the Midwest, while the percent of Midwesterners who are in their late working years or early retirement years is on the upswing. On the other hand, while the number of native-born persons in Midwestern metro areas grew by only 3.3% between 2000 and 2010, the number of immigrants grew by 27%, so that immigration now accounts for 38.4% of all metro area growth in the Midwest.

“The demographics reveal that the immigrant population is here and important to the region’s growth,” said Juliana Kerr, who directs The Chicago Council’s immigration work. “Policymakers now should focus on developing effective policies to seamlessly integrate immigrants and leverage their economic potential.”

Source: The Chicago Council on Global Affairs Press Release (June 24, 2014)

Research: Pension Workshop Includes Presentations on Interplay of Continued Work and Pension Claims

The Netspar International Pension Workshop hosted by Venice International University in June 2014, heard presentations on a range of topics on the common themes of retirement, pensions and aging. Among other things, presentations included:

• Matthew Rutledge (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College) "Point of no return: How do financial resources affect the timing of retirement after a job separation?," with follow-up presentation by discussant Mauro Mastrogiacomo
• April Wu (Center for Retirement Research at Boston College) "How do subjective longevity expectations influence retirement plans?" with follow-up presentation by discussant: Susan Thorp
• Nadia Karamcheva (Urban Institute)
  "Does household debt influence the labor supply and benefit claiming decisions of older Americans?" with follow-up presentation by discussant: Giacomo Pasini
• Ricky Kanabar (University of York) "To defer or not defer? State pension in a lifecycle model" with follow-up presentation by discussant: Markus Knell

Source: Netspar News Release (June 23, 2014)

Singapore: Government Announces Plan for Incentives to Employers Implementing Flexible Work for Mature Workers

At a speech on "Effective Workplaces: Creating a Flexible, Inclusive, Safe and Healthy Workplace" delivered at the Age Management Seminar, Dr. Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State for Health and Manpower, announced several enhancements that the Singapore Government was going to make to WorkPro to help employers better manage mature workers, especially with respect to flexible work arrangements (FWAs). The most significant enhancement is to:

provide employers with a $10,000 incentive to pilot new FWAs, and an additional $10,000 to support them in implementing the FWAs company-wide. With the enhancement, employers can receive a total funding of $40,000 for implementing FWAs, including the reimbursement of expenses incurred during the pilot and company-wide implementation.

In addition, expanding on the $40,000 a year employers can currently receive if they have 30% of their workers using FWAs, there will also be a cash incentive of up to $25,000 a year for employers who have 20% of workers benefitting from FWAs.

Khor also announced that the goverment would introduce a Workplace Health Promotion (WHP) Facilitator’s course, to help arm employers with the necessary knowledge and tools to plan, design and evaluate workplace health programs for their workers. "This will ensure that all employers who tap on the Age Management Grant have the capability to actively promote healthy living among their employees, especially the older ones."

In order "for companies to understand the value that mature workers bring to their business, and adopt a nondiscriminatory mindset when it comes to hiring and managing workers," Khor said that the Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers is launching an advertising campaign—entitled "Tap into a Wealth of Experience"—to highlight the value and experience that mature workers can bring to the workplace.

Sources: Ministry of Manpower Speeches (June 18, 2014); The Straits Times "$10,000 grant for bosses who try flexi-work schemes" (June 19, 2014)

Average Age of Disability Claims Rises to Above 50

The Council for Disability Awareness reports that, in 2013, the average claimant age exceeded 50 for the first time ever. Claims for those age 50 and older, mostly driven by claimants over age 60, have been consistently increasing as a percentage of the total, reflecting the aging of America's working population. According to its report, "2014 Long Term Disability Claims Review," 59% of the new claims approved during 2013 were for individuals age 50 or older. The Council also cites an aging workforce as one of the factors most cited by reporting companies as likely to impact future claim incidence.

In an article about the report for Bloomberg News, Craig Giammona writes that "Prudential Financial Inc. (PRU) and Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. (HIG) are among insurers that have raised prices for the coverage after being caught off guard by higher-than-expected claims costs." In addition, he quotes Council President Barry Lundquist as saying: "On average, older people have higher wages and it’s harder for them to get back to work.When you think about the baby boomers and how old they are now, they have a much higher chance of becoming disabled -- maybe a four or five times higher chance in a given year than someone that’s in their twenties or thirties.…When you think about the baby boomers and how old they are now, they have a much higher chance of becoming disabled—maybe a four or five times higher chance in a given year than someone that’s in their twenties or thirties."

Sources: Council for Disability Awareness News Release (June 17, 2014); Bloomberg News "Aging Workers Push Disability Costs Higher for Insurers" (June 17, 2014)

Survey: Americans Find Later Life without Work To Be Impractical and Undesirable

A survey conducted by Merrill Lynch Global Wealth Management and Age Wave reports that 72% of pre-retirees over the age of 50 in the United States say their ideal retirement will include working. In addition, 47% of current retirees report having worked or planning to work during their retirement years.

According to the study ("Work in Retirement: Myths and Motivations"), whereas retirement used to be viewed as a permanent end of work followed by a period of continuous leisure, not retirement is better viewed as a phased process, which the authors call "The New Retirement Workscape" consisting of:

1. pre-retirement—for employees within five years of retirement, 37% have taken meaningful steps towards a retirement career, and within two years of retirement, 54% have done so;
2. career intermission—52% of retirees report they took a break, averaging 2.5 years, before working again;
3. reengagement—a period lasting around nine years, during which 83% of people working flex careers work part-time, as opposed to 17% in pre-retirement careers, and 32% are self-employed, as compared to 11% in pre-retirement careers; and
4. leisure.

The full survey report has been made available. Source: Merrill Lynch Global Wealth ManagementNews Release (June 4, 2014)

Research: Does Health Care Reform Affect Labor Participation by Older Workers?

In a blog posting on MarketWatch, Alicia H. Munnell follows up on research published by Center for Retirement Research at Boston College on the effects of Massachusetts’ health-insurance reform. According to Munnell, analysis "yielded an interesting result. It showed that, compared to nearby states, 55-to-64-year-old males in Massachusetts experienced the largest decline in labor force participation between the time before and after the health insurance reform." Specifically, the state Massachusetts saw a decline in labor force participation for that group of 1.3 percentage points while the rest of the nation saw an increase of 1.7 percentage points.

One possibility for the difference could be the ability of those men to acquire affordable health insurance without having to wait for Medicare. In support of this theory, Munnell notes that "prior to Massachusetts’ health reform, 93% of 55-to-64-year-old males who were out of the labor force had health insurance; after the reform that number had risen to 97%."

Munnell then contemplated extrapolating these results across the country, in light of the Affordable Care Act. She said that, "[i]f unhealthy workers—or people who simply hate their jobs—were able to leave the labor force because of expanded access to health insurance, economists argue that this reduction may not be a bad thing." However, "if health reform alters the financial incentives to work through higher marginal income taxes on labor, as some have argued will be the case under the ACA, then a reduction in labor force participation may be a negative outcome of health reform."

Source: MarketWatch "Will health reform affect older workers?" (June 11, 2014)

United Kingdom: Pension Minister Launches Action Plan To Help Older Workers Stay in the Workplace

The United Kingdom's Department for Work and Pensions and Pensions Minister Steve Webb has announced that the government will launch of a new action plan to support the economy, workers, and businesses, but stressed that British business must realize the potential of older workers and help people to stay in the workplace. Detailed in "Fuller Working Lives—a framework for action," the new measures include:

• extending the right to request flexible working to all employees in June 2014;
  
• the appointment of a new Older Workers’ Employment Champion—a respected and independent-minded figure who will advocate the case for older workers within the business community and wider society; and
  
• the launch of a new Health and Work Service which will give workers with long-term health problems the support they need to stay in or return to work.

According to the announcement, while the employment rate for 55 to 64 year olds is around 60% and growing, the recent improvement has been relatively modest compared to many other nations, and several countries achieve employment rates of around 70% or above. Among other things, Webb said:

• "Older workers have a huge amount to bring to any workforce and are a vast untapped talent."
  
• "We are living longer and can expect many more years of healthy life. It’s great news – but it’s something that as a society and as an economy we need to respond to."
  
• 'As part of building a fairer society, I am determined that we boost our support for older workers and help employers challenge outdated perceptions to see the real strengths of this important section of the workforce."
  

Source: Department for Work and Pensions and Steve Webb MP Press Release (June 13, 2014)

Other Sources: Daily Mail "Flexible hours push to help the over-50s stay in work: Pensions Minister says older generation are 'vast untapped talent'" (June 13, 2014)

Finland: Rising Age for Pre-Retirement Unemployment Benefits May Be Causing Increased Unemployment among Older Workers

As reported in Yle Uutiset, Statistics Finland has found that seniors facing a growing risk of unemployment as they age, and a "Tampere University researcher says the reason for the trend could be the constantly rising lower age limit for pre-retirement unemployment benefits."

Specifically, the data is showing that for men the risk of becoming jobless was greatest between the ages of 58 and 59, while for women the corresponding age was 58, while in 20023, the risk of unemployment was highest for men aged 55 and for women who were 56.

University of Tampere special researcher Simo Aho said that the steady risk in the risk age is due to ongoing rise in the age at which workers become eligible for additional earnings-related unemployment allowance. Currently persons who lose their jobs are eligible for the allowance from the age of 58 until retirement.

Source: Yle Uutiset "Unemployment risk growing among pre-retirement workers" (June 9, 2014)

Sweden: Looking at Retirement Age and Proposals to Strengthening Labor Participation by Older Workers

SeniorPolittik.no is running a series of articles on Sweden and retirement. According to the lead story, even though, under Swedish law, an individual has no right to remain in employment after age 67, and Swedes have the right to withdraw retirement pension as early as age 61, among both employers and employees it is a deeply rooted belief that the earlier retirement age of 65, the normal retirement age.

Swedes work longer than workers in many other countries, such as Denmark and Finland. However, labor force participation among Swedes aged 65 and older is generally not as high as in for example Norway. Labour force participation among older Swedish women, however, higher than in Norway. Nevertheless, politicians are worried and stressing among other things, that Norway has been more successful in changing attitudes away from a fixed retirement age.

Drawing on a report prepared for the Swedish parliament earlier in 2014, it is apparent that negative attitudes towards older workers is common. The report notes that Norway's creation of a center for senior policy is a cause of the attitudes in Norway being less negative, and it concluded that it is not enough just to raise the retirement age to change the perception of older workers. Information and knowledge are also needed.

While the Swedish report notes that "everyone can not work indefinitely, but many are able to work with and much longer than is the case now," there are proposals to raise the statutory right to continue in employment to 69. In addition, a year ago, proposals were submitted o the government to raise the age for the earliest opportunity to receive a pension from the government gradually from 61 years, on the grounds that life expectancy is projected to increase.

Sources: SeniorPolittik.no, Retirement Age in Sweden: "Mener Norge har lyktes bedre" [Believe Norway has succeeded better], "Fant sin egen vei videre" [Found their own way forward], "Bør være en menneskerett å få arbeide" [Should be a human right to work] (June 2014);

Israel: Government Drafting Proposal to Encourage Delayed Retirements

According to an article in Haaretz, the Israeli government is drafting a plan to encourage people to work past retirement age. As reported by Meirav Arlosoroff, the plan drafted by the Pensioner Affairs Ministry—led by minister Uri Orbach and ministry director general Gilad Semama—together with the National Economic Council in the Prime Minister’s Office would cost NIS 240 million ($69 million) a year, and would be funded by dropping the current pension increases offered to people who keep working beyond retirement age.

The number of retirement-age Israelis is set to reach nearly 15% by 2030, from 10% today, meaning the national expenditure on the elderly is likely to grow from the current 10.2% of GDP to nearly 12%, an increase of 16 billion shekels.

Surveys have shown that most people approaching pension age would like to continue working, but face barriers including discrimination, outdated skills and above all a taxation and state pension policy that serves as a strong disincentive.

In Israel, the retirement age is 62 for women and 67 for men. Currently, taxation and pension policies that essentially work out to a 97% income tax on some retirees who continue to work past retirement age, although those taxes are greatly reduced if someone works past 70. The proposal would cut the taxes and penalties for working to 44%-67% of the person’s salary.

In a follow-up article, Arlosoroff reports on a survey conducted by the business data firm BDI Coface for TheMarker, which revealed that only one in five workers hired by the 100 largest companies was over 45—revealing a picture of blatant discrimination based on pure prejudice:

Older job seekers are less likely than their younger peers to be hired, despite being perceived as more stable, experienced and capable of working longer hours because they don’t have small children at home.

These results echo findings of a survey conducted for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission by the Economy Ministry’s research division, which found that the hiring rate for employees aged 45 and up is just 1.3%, even though this group accounts for 38% of Israel’s labor force.

Source: Haaretz "Plan would reduce tax, pension penalties for working past retirement" (May 27, 2014); Haaretz "No country for old workers" (May 30, 2014)