In an address at today's Australian Conference of Economists (ACE 2012), CEPAR Director, John Piggott discussed the main barriers preventing older people from working.
Professor Piggott told the audience of 100 delegates that the main challenges facing mature-aged workers are declining health, caring responsibilities, and age discrimination.
He discussed the importance of the 2010 National Employment Standards which include flexible arrangements for child care and said this flexibility should be extended to include care of adults with disability.
"We need to tackle age discrimination in the workplace and reduce the barriers for older workers. The ageing of Australia's population is going to have serious implications on our economy if older workers participation rates remain static. Lifting participation rates by 10 percent for workers aged 55-69 will significantly reduce the financial pressure associated with our ageing society," Professor Piggott said.
ACE 2012 -The Future of Economics: Research, Policy and Relevance- is being held this week at Victoria University in Melbourne. Delegates are drawn from government, industry and academia, representing current and future policy analysts and business decision makers. CEPAR is proud to be one of the sponsors of the conference.