Policy changes needed for Canada’s aging population
Due to Canada’s aging population and recent economic uncertainty, key policies relating to ageism in the workforce must become a national priority, according to a new policy brief written by Nipissing University Sociology professor Dr. Ellie Berger.
Berger’s brief, published by the Population Change and Lifecourse Strategic Knowledge Cluster, and co-written with Nipissing Sociology student Douglas Hodgins, provides a summary of the current research and policies in the field of age discrimination and paid work.
The brief finds that while policy changes have been noted on some fronts, there are still many areas that require considerable improvement.
Key findings include:
- Policies have been created to eliminate mandatory retirement across Canada, yet some exceptions still cause older employees to be forced out of the workplace.
- Changes in retirement policy will directly influence employer and government pensions.
- Ageism is reflected in employers’ attitudes and this directly impacts older worker retention, training, and recruitment.
- Age discrimination legislation still has a long way to go to be effective in the fight against ageism.
- Particular attention needs to be paid to older female employees and their battle with gendered ageism.
- Ageism is particularly evident when unemployed and searching for work.
- Policy improvements are needed to remove mandatory retirement in all areas, to educate employers to change ageist attitudes and hold them more accountable for their actions, and to improve programs to help older workers in their job search process.
“While there have been some advances in this area, policy improvements are needed regarding employers' ageist attitudes and practices, particularly with respect to the training, retention and hiring of older workers,” says Berger. “Part of these policy improvements could involve the creation of educational programs for employers to help foster more positive attitudes toward older employees and more government funded programs to help older unemployed workers find employment.”
The complete Policy brief is available here: http://sociology.uwo.ca/cluster/en/PolicyBrief7.html