1

European Economic and Social Committee

2

“ICT and Active Ageing: prolonging active life by

working, connecting, helping”

EU - JAPAN EESC SYMPOSIUM - 9 OCTOBER 2012 Laure Batut, EESC, Group II Member

laure.batut@eesc.europa.eu

Age is a global challenge

3

L.Batut EESC, GRII

The challenge of ageing for our societies has been more lightened by the Crisis:

Are aged people a burden or a chance?

Do we need them? If yes, how to give them means to live,

consume, participate, and contribute to growth, as most of them are out of working life ?

4

For a holistic approach to “Active Ageing” 

“Active Ageing”: - Should NOT only be defined by salaried work.

- It should PRIMARILY enable people to achieve:

*empowerment, *wellbeing *and involvement in society.

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

THE EU COUNCIL

is currently working together with the United Nations Economic Commission for

Europe

on tools for measuring the untapped potential of active ageing.

The result should be

an ‘active ageing index’ that would reflect the different aspects of active ageing.

5

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

The 2012 EU COUNCIL (27 Member States)(27 Member States)

Decided to focus on enabling people to remain longer on the labour market

and on creating opportunities and the right conditions for active ageing.

Recognises that this will be achieved through a mix of policies, which will have to vary from

one country, or even region, to another.

6

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

Just think: Living is just becoming older

so older people are just like everyone else!

Just like you!

Older people

do have different needs to everyone else, though!

Tutankhamen, eleventh Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt XVIIIth Dynasty, young & older

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

77

Why should we look at the employment rate of older

people?The “Ironless Generation” : BabyBoomers who did everything they could to make their lives easier and boost growth for years to come are seeing a fall in their living standards, which were achieved

at the end of the 20th century in developed countries.

Despite the EU’s per capita GDP of USD 31 197 (PPA) (the EU had 25.85 % of global GDP in 2010 - World Bank),

the questions are: 1) how can we recover this level? 2) and to do that, how should wealth be

distributed, at a time when jobs are scarce?

The only acceptable way is to create, innovate and find new solutions for a new economic and social win-win situation, without destroying the social welfare model. To that end,

8

ICT should offer success stories illustrating how it overcomes barriers.

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

What kind of society do we want to build?

Keeping older workers on board provides an opportunity to re-use their know-how, and make them a workforce, not a burden for society and social protection systems.

But, remaining in work beyond compulsory retirement must be a voluntary and personal choice: a life for yourself does exist after working life.

Looking after the needs of the active and inactive 25% of the population could provide jobs for others, especially for young people (as opposed to creating a lost generation), researchers, producers, carers, etc…, & requires

training, qualifications and professionalisation a re-focussing of the whole economy.

9

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

Bearing in mind that to achieve

growth with economic and social progress(The European Treaty’s goal)

and looking at the economic dependency rate for pensions,

THE FIRST REQUIREMENT IS DECENT JOBS FOR ALL

ANDEMPLOYMENT FOR OLDER WORKERS

SHOULD NORMALLY FOLLOW ON FROM THAT

10

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

The supply of jobs for older workers should increase, due to:

Labour shortagesThe ongoing decline in physically demanding workContinual health improvements More & older women employedMore young people with a better educationContinuation of careers or new startsOlder workers reducing activity and wages

The demand for jobs also should increase,due to:

Better health, the need to help parents and children …

But also pensions cuts, increased precarity & poverty.. …

11

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

12

Projections Source: European Commission - « 2012 Ageing Report »

23%

15%

O.W

O.W

EU 27 - 2010

EU 27 - 2060

O.W= Old Workers

What could help ?

• We know that ICT is not a magic wand for combating the financial crisis, unemployment, and the lack of hope among young people,

it is nevertheless an important TOOL for change

ICT can accelerate take-up and delivery through

Learning, lifelong learning, Adapted working & living conditions …… and bring jobs, security and

healthcare.

13

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

Older workers face obstacles

Workplaces: not well equipped for older people

Universities: increasingly expensive (States no longer fulfilling their duties)

Women: face a higher rate of unemployment and also care for the inactive elderly

Poverty: increasing in developed countries and already reducing improvement in health (precarity, low wages, unemployment, loneliness, etc.)

Public budgets under pressure … 14

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

15

From : EU Commission « Ageing Well Action Plan », i2010FlagShip initiative

Conditionsrequired to tackle barriers to ICT & boost employment and growth

Establish ICT Infrastructure

Make Access & Accessibility a reality

Building trust in ICT

Universal access to e-education

16

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

17

Infrastructure must be fully established everywhere by the public authorities to give people ready access to ICT:

broadband, high-speed wifi, etc.

Accessibility to hardware and software must be ensured, to enable seniors to use ICT easily : concepts and production standards, computers, clauses for commerce, etc … by both the private and public sectors

Building trust in using ICT through :

* affordability and cost well-defined and supplied by public action for every social group, including seniors;

* security and guaranteed rights for Internet users;

* guaranteed privacy and data protection; L.Batut, EESC, GRII

18

Universal access to inclusive e-education in all schools

- to prepare for tomorrow’s e-inclusion:

° from pre-school age° without any discrimination° including the training of parents and of teachers themselves° use digital technology in schools

- with dedicated courses for older workers:

° with specially-adapted teaching based on “serious games”, simplified screens and computers, inter-generational

learning, etc.L.Batut, EESC, GRII

Technologies and Education (Source: Eurofound,2011)

20

1) ICT could empower active ageingseniors who want to continue

working

- To look for a job; to continue or try teleworking- To improve skills- To do the job, as ICT alleviates physical and mental constraints- To better reconcile work and family life, etc…

Being aware of the need to bridge the gaps in- The lack of basic education and skills- The need for a useful ICT learning environment after retirement (difficult for people to upgrade their skills on their own)

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

Technologies and Occupation( source: Eurofound,2011)

22

The need for skills, qualificationsand teachers

• During working life :

- All workers need to learn ICT in the workplace;- All digital skills could be kept in a repository of learning to establish, by vocational sector, useful elements for issuing qualifications and

certification, in order to:

* Gain greater recognition and higher pay,

* and be able to upgrade skills, after retirement, for example.

* receive a ‘digital passport’

• After working life,

- As seniors are not always at ease with ICT, starting or continuing ICT learning is now a pre-requisite for inclusion and well-being.

L.Batut,

EESC, GRII

23

An opportunity: Transfer of knowledge- Skilled workers - at the end of their working life, they have built up a capital of know-how, which remains useful.

- Young workers - generally find digital technologies easy to work with.

- Knowledge transfers could work in both directions * old to young and young to old, * and would be easier and more effective if older workers were able to use digital technologies.

Lifelong learning and e-skills are acknowledged to be essential to survival, helping people to remain in work or to find other jobs or activities in later years,

and to developing solidarity between generations.L.Batut, EESC, GRII

24

• European women entered the labour market in huge numbers during the

1970s. At the end of their working life, there are

more of them, and they are paid less than men.

* Women have less linear careers than men and suffer more from a lack of skills and digital

competences.

* Although ICT should make their activities easier, especially when they are carers for elderly parents, it is

more difficult to keep them e-included, due to a lack of skills and financial means, and also a lack of self-confidence where technology is concerned.

Specific measures are needed to narrow the gap

In EU, poverty primarily affects women,in old age too,

because of their lower pensions

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

A brief look at the situation of

WOMEN

25

2) ICT could help ‘inactive’ older people remain included

• Active older people are economic & social providers of resources for businesses and the economy:

relies on the Internet, automated payments, etc… and requires digital skills for the aged to remain an included active economic group.

• Trust in ‘dematerialized’ transactions: this develops only when safety conditions are established (legal protection)

• Keeping in touch with ICT: maintaining social links, especially with family, and local stakeholders, learning from the younger generations, gaining empowerment through the inter-generational transfer of knowledge; the fight against isolation, assistance with mobility, caring, etc …

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

26

To be “Inactive” means neither “salaried”

nor “not active”• All aspects that apply to active people also apply to those who are inactive

• Some inactive people are just getting started with computers and need support from local volunteers

or public services:

•Older people and ICTproximity and contacts are crucial.

•Services of General Interest & NGOs are very important and could create synergies.

• Volunteers are included in e- activity, e-learning and e-skills,and help to develop activities.

• The Social Economy sector becomes an important jobs creator , in which the inactive aged have a role to play.

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

27

3) ICT can help in dependent old age

keeping human aspects as a goaland creating jobs

With the onset of disease, handicap, memory loss, dementia, etc. ICT can help with health issues, keeping people at home longer with mobility and a comfortable life (robotics, etc.)

For living conditions:smart housing, smart transport, e-nursing, telemedicine, etc.

R&D :There is huge scope for research, investorsand markets in this area (such as joint ventures).

The opportunity for action is enormous If well managed, ‘Age’ could be a gold minefor job creation, growth and green growth,

with opportunities for both businesses and workers.L.Batut, EESC, GRII

28

Individuals using mobile devices for Internet access during the three months of a Eurostat

survey - EU27/2010-

The EU COMMISSION is implementing Council

decisionsrecognising that inequalities are drastically increasing prejudice

throughout the EU ( Source 2011- Comm.Report , ‘ Employment and

Social developments in EU ’).

Has set up an Innovation Platform for Ageing Well “

as a forum for co-operation and for developing a common strategic agenda (research). Through studies, high-level discussions with Member States and regulatory groups, the EU is working to remove remaining market, legal and technical barriers to achieving Europe’s ‘ageing well’ vision.

Is launching measures for closer partnership between older users and their representatives, industry and service providers, public authorities and policymakers, in order to :

Improve the quality of life of many elderly people, their carers and relatives.Create new business opportunities for European industries.Help to make health and social services more efficient and personalised.

29L.Batut,

EESC, GRII

Lifelong learningNo age-related discrimination E-inclusionHealthy living Better mobility Reconciling work and private life, especially

for carers  Measures supporting all job seekers and Better working conditions,

to encourage people to remain in work longer .

30

The EU Commission is promoting:

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

Position of ETUC (trades unions) 80 workers’ national confederations + 1 representing pensioners:

(FERPA)

Cuts in social protection and falling demand: in practice, companies do not want to retain older workers ,because they are more expensive , and deemed as less qualified.

ICT are an opportunity to empower people and create new jobs for all.

Changes are to be negotiated between the social partners at all levels, through social dialogue. All Member States, as well as the EU, have already the legal tools to achieve this.

In any case, everything must be done to maintain the efficiency of supportive pensions systems so as to enable people to live a decent life in dignity (as opposed to a life that is precarious and lived in poverty).

31

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

The ETUC’s view on Active Ageing needs:

People to remain in work until the compulsory retirement age;No age-related discrimination before the compulsory retirement age; Inter-generational solidarity: there is obviously a great need to offer jobs to youngsters;Everyone to have access to high-quality teaching and jobs, quality of life, a better environment, healthy, safe and secure workplaces, taking account of physically-demanding working conditions, lifelong learning , ICT training.

32

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

The European Economic and Social Committee’s position

1. Access to infrastructure and digital tools

is a fundamental right.

2. E-inclusion, for older people too, means becoming familiar with all digital media,in order to: a) a) Be connected b) b) Know how to use hardware c) c) Feel at ease with technologyd) d) Be trained to use softwaree) e) Be involved in the digital world

33

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

34

3. E-inclusion requires a global approach and must ensure that everyone is empowered to find a job, whatever their position in society,until the end of their working life.

4. The ongoing learning of digital skills for all has to be organised by the public authorities.

5. Working beyond the compulsory retirement age has to be done on a voluntary basis; jobs for all before and up to compulsory retirement would be the best way.

6. ICT are tools for greater inclusion and societal change, and make old age an opportunity to create many new jobs.

Source: EESC Opinion 669/2011

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

35

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Expected implications of ICT for older people

Consequences of recession this cannot be a social model for the future.

People must not be enslaved to work from birth to death; everyone has the right to

a decent life, even in old age.

It is worth keeping people included,

and ICT are generally speaking a good way

of providing opportunities for businesses and workers, including ‘older workers’ and indeed all

older people.

36

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

It is necessary: To tackle the current unequal access to ICT: This reflects economic and social inequalities,

which have grown as a result of the crisis.

Unless these inequalities are addressed, the whole economy will pay a high price in the future.

ICT will provide older people with tools for: working, teaching, communicating, managing, alleviating poverty, treating the sick, caring for others, living a better life, etc...

It is of the utmost importance that we succeed in this project

To empower everyone, as the first rule in life should be

LIVE FOR YOURSELF. 37

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

In GERMANY,

The Chancellor, Angela Merkel, recognized that

life expectancy for the poorest part of the German population

had decreased over the previous ten years,

from 77.5 years in 2001 to 75.5 years in 2010

Source: AFP, 12.12.2011.

Older people are among society’s poorest.

There is no time to lose.38

L.Batut, EESC, GRII

Thank you

for your attention

Brussels, The Atomium, 2012

39

L.Batut