Third Problem of Older People: Denied Proper Education & Employment

The Pontifical Council for the Laity (PCL) has noticed with sadness that older people “are excluded from policies of continuing education…” because their “level of education is no longer geared to the labor market… This exclusion ignores their growing needs and aspirations in this field.”

Many older people — even those who are healthy, capable, and professionally knowledgeable — are socially and intentionally separated from “the world of work and from everything related to it.” Many can hardly find any form of work to compensate for inadequate or non-existent pensions.

PCL therefore recommends that “this need for financial security must be satisfied: older people must be given the chance to do something. They must be enabled to express their own creativity and to develop the spiritual dimension of their lives.”

PCL also noticed that “compulsory retirement can trigger off premature ageing…” but when the older person is employed in some way their quality of life improves. This is a “first resource that needs to be addressed”. Doing this is restoring to them “an active role” in society thus making new technologies accessible and new employment possible.