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A Review of the AGE Barometer 2023: EU Good Practices and Barriers in the Empowerment of Elderly in the Labour Market - The Case of Hungary
15-24Views:73The 2023 edition of the AGE Barometer was released by the Age Platform Europe, aimed at consolidating data from European statistics and national-level sources and enriched by feedback from 19 European countries, including Hungary. The publication aimed at empowering older people in the labour market and promoting sustainable and high-quality working lives for them. The Barometer revealed that the European Union (EU) is far from reaching its 78% employment target for adults aged 20 to 64 with its current state of just 62.3%. This could be due to various barriers to the integration of older people in the labour market, which include inadequate supportive policies, ageism, and unfavourable workplace conditions. Conversely, these are broadly stated in the context of the EU; hence, a deeper analysis of these results, with a special focus on the case of a single country, such as Hungary, is relevant to establish a clearer understanding of the national and local framework of these findings and in determining facilitating policies and programmes as well as gaps in promoting elderly inclusion in the labour sector. Using various methods such as critical analysis, desk and literature review, and thematic analysis, this article examined the Barometer report and other relevant publications. The Barometer 2023 effectively provided general issues and actionable areas in supporting older people in the labour market, combating ageism, and ensuring an age-friendly work environment in the EU landscape. Moreover, it revealed that Hungary performed better in employing older persons compared to the EU average, likely associated with a favourable environment for older workers through its legal protection systems, financial incentives, equal treatment policy, and initiatives such as pensioner cooperatives and information technology education. However, this still falls below the target, and based on the analysis and review of existing relevant publications, this could be associated with some unfavourable policies, gender disparities, a continuous rise in the ageing population, an increased number of migrant workers, technology challenges, ageism, political mayhems, cultural and traditional constraints, and other challenges that continue to threaten the marketability of older people, thereby resulting in consequences for their financial, physical, social, psychological, and environmental wellbeing. Moreover, the report also stated few good practices in promoting elderly employment in the county, contrary to numerous efforts implemented by both the Hungarian government, non-government organisations, and other institutions, which remained unrecognised, perhaps due to limited data availability and gaps in the reporting schemes. Finally, the Barometer 2023 report was realized to be included and used as a part of the technical working papers of the European Economic and Social Committee, being the EU advisory body that deals on the issues and opinions regarding this matter. The latest edition of the Barometer has the potential to spark positive changes among policymakers and decision-makers in acknowledging the economic potential of the elderly and in eliminating barriers that hinder elderly integration in the labour market. In the case of Hungary, substantial policies, programmes, and welfare services exist that facilitate elderly employment; however, challenges were also identified, hence the precise recommendations provided in the Barometer report must transform into reality, taking into consideration the unique national, local, and cultural peculiarities of Hungary and its local communities. It is also suggested that systematic data collection and good practice documentation must be facilitated in Hungary, and feedback from the other 18 countries in the Barometer report must be thoroughly reviewed or benchmarked for possible inspiration and replication. Lastly, the potentials of the Barometer 2023 to be used at all levels of decision-making must be maximized.
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Ageism as social pathology in geriatric medicine
31-32Views:11The main trend of modern geriatrics is to maintain a high functional ability, which consists of intrinsic capacity and environment. It is important to attach importance to the impact of the environment, including of its social component, when can promote the development of social pathology, for example loneliness or the consequences of ageism which can significantly reduce the quality of life.
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Generációk közötti feszültségek okai, csökkentésének lehetőségei
2-10Views:250The author is trying to discover the causes of tensions between the young and the old. She highlights the fields of cogitation and personal development, the differences and similarities between the two generations, furthermore, she offers alternative solutions to reduce the tensions. She explores the difficulties of the conditions of the young and the elderly. The author would like to achieve that different age groups would get to know each other’s problems, and functions of life stages. By revealing this she hopes to decrease the generation gap. Further aim is to promote the prevention of ageism and the approach of generations.
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Democratic values – discriminative practices regarding to the status of the elderly
64-76.Views:129The scientific study of gerontology in Hungary has a short history. Perhaps that is why the
meaning of gerontology is erroneously restricted to the type belonging to biology and medical
sciences by many. The present study argues that human and social science gerontology does
have reasons for its existence. We outline the specific areas of research done by philosophy
and ethics in connection with the situation of the existence of people, especially that of the
elderly and describe what their mission consists of. We analyse the history of Western
philosophical thinking and the moral ideas and values formed by this thinking in thousands of
years. The basic principles of modern democratic societies are constituted by these ideas:
liberty, equality, justice, brotherhood, human dignity and human rights. In practice these
rights are often violated, for example the elderly people are discriminated against their age,
which violates their equality and justice as well as human dignity. Their disadvantageous
situation is obvious in the economy, politics, culture, education and relations between
generations. The task of ethics is the principle criticism of these practices along the Western
values thus contribution to the formation of human conditions. The demographic crisis of the
continent is viewed by the EU as based on modern age policy, aids, projects and classical
Western values. -
Smart against ageism: an overview of age discrimination in Portugal
25-29Views:84Negative stereotypes, prejudices and discrimination on the ground of age, known as “ageism” have been shown to cause cardiovascular stress, lowered levels of self-efficacy and decreased productivity[1]. Across the EU, policies and practices still reflect ageist prejudices and deprioritise, disregard, or even exclude older adults in different ways.
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COVID-19, lockdown, elderly. Experiences of the follow up research among active older adults 2020- 2021.
40-42Views:117Introduction, aims:
The COVID-19 pandemic caused invaluable harms on the World during last two years. Among all economic and societal consequences the negative effects for elderly people was also apparent. Researches - among others - focused on the age related inequalities for accessing and using services, economic disadvantages, the decline of psychical, physical and mental conditions, reduced quality of life, increased level of loneliness, stress and depression, such as the increase and new faces of ageism.
This research focused on the individual and organizational consequences of COVID – 19 pandemic and the effects of the state interventions followed by. The target group were identified as active seniors who have leading positions in different local and regional senior’s associations. These people were affected individually as a member of the age group and as an experts with organizational responsibilities as well.Research method:
We chose a qualitative follow up (longitudinal) research method that was committed by semi structured phone interviews, recorded and anonymised. The time of the two data record focused and followed the main Hungarian waves of the pandemic: May – June in 2020 and June – July in 2021. Sample were collected from all districts of Hungary (n=42).Main research topics were:
- The situation of the older adults (experiences about the local older people, daily life, problems, issues, social connections)
- The life in the organization (activities, new initiatives, problems, issues)
- Individual experiences (fears, daily life, social connections, shopping habits, use of ICT, vaccination).Results:
We found significant differences on the personal life situation and the perception of pandemic and related interventions during the two waves. Pandemic situation may influenced these results. The age related “stay at home campaign” made more difficulties for the older people during the first wave, meanwhile related interventions weren’t so strict during the second wave by introducing shopping timeline for older people and night curfew for all in the late nights. Even first wave did not cause such harm like the second one in Hungary.
During the first wave we found older people as a rule following citizens. They followed all the restrictions and regulations strictly. Life situations mainly were determined by the living conditions, that is means the ones who lived in the countryside mainly a house with garden experienced less negative effects than those, who lived in the housing estate area (first wave mainly fall on March – May).
Older people reported increased importance of the local authorities. With the lack of central supporting interventions, local authorities played main role for local support, care and security. If the local government took care of older people they felt safety. Less interventions and coordination made older people insecured.
The second wave made new situations for people. Older adults became one of the first target groups in vaccination and people started to cope with the pandemic.
Older adults became more critical with governmental interventions.
Critics focussed on the
- pandemic related communication, the vaccination (older people mainly got Shinofarm vaccine that was not accepted in the EU at that time),
- difficulties with the availability of health services, and
- they experienced increased economic problems.
The life in the organization: during the first wave we found frozen life of the seniors organization, cancelled and delayed programmes. Some initiatives were also reported. People preferred to keep contact via phone instead of using another ICT tools. Some of the answerer worried about the community life, how they can restart after the pandemic, others preferred the forthcoming chance for personal meetings.
Seniors organisations may play an important role of the senior’s life by organizing free time and social activities, advocacy, and many other aspects of active ageing. As we made a first extract of this research further analyse will focus more on the good examples and new initiatives on the social, community and organizational levels. -
"I want to look as young as I feel" Psychological factors influencing the willingness to undergo cosmetic procedures in the context of ageing
62-86Views:50In 2020, a total of 15.6 million cosmetic procedures were performed in the United States alone - a 43% increase from 6.7 million in 2000. This upward trend is likely to continue for decades to come. In 2020, the largest consumer group was women aged 40-55, accounting for 45% of all cosmetic procedures and they primarily chose procedures to remove visible signs of aging. This study aims to summarize the factors that generally influence the development of positive attitudes toward procedures. Additionally, the study explores the relationship between ageing and interest in cosmetic procedures. The underlying factors are explored both at the individual level, such as ageing anxiety, and at the societal level, such as age stereotypes and ageism. Finally, the article also discusses the perception of individuals who undergo these procedures and the factors that may help older individuals to have a positive attitude towards ageing.
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Challenges to Mental Health Security and Safety of Older Adults in the U.S.
3Views:99Although rates of Covid-19 infection are lower for older adults, the mortality rates are higher than all other ages. While the health challenges are evident, the mental health effects of the pandemic are less evident. The term “compassionate ageism” has been used to describe protection of all older adults as vulnerable groups, however it overlooks individual factors that may mitigate risk and enhance mental health aspects of coping with the realities of the pandemic. Isolation and separation from families and once enjoyed activities, whether residing in their own homes or long-term care facilities, has taken an immeasurable physical and mental health toll on older adults. Safety and security for mental health as well as physical health must be considered in any strategy to try mitigate the effects on the quality of life of older adults during this critical time in our history.
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Active Ageing Good Practices Promoting Intergenerational Communication and Understanding
5-6Views:28Persistent negative stereotypes on the aging process and the older person are noticeable within the current youth-orientated culture. Older persons may also hold negative stereotypes about the younger generation. These undesirable typecasts co-exist because younger and older persons often have limited contact with each other. Indeed, the younger generation, only gets to engage in communication with the older person within the family unit, rarely outside their own familial structures. Similarly, older persons, residents of long-term care have limited opportunities of interacting with the younger generation.
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The correlations of resilience of the geriatric population in Botswana: A cross sectional study
36-37Views:46According to Botswana's Current statistics for 2021, people aged 60 and above would make up 8.9% of the population. As people age, they face a plethora of challenges; mental, legal, social, health, economic, environmental, and political, in addition to ageism and marginalization. Therefore, they need resilience to deal with these challenges that emanate from the aging process, the development of care needs, and the depletion of resources. However, in Africa, there is anecdotal evidence that some older people cannot cope with their lives, let alone carer responsibilities caused by HIV related death and other risk factors. For older people to flourish, they need resilience to achieve, endure, develop and sustain their health and well-being in the face of adversity. The degree of success and impact on their resilience is undocumented. The research will therefore determine the correlates with resilience and establish ways to curb the risk factors.