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A Right to Retire But Not to Work? The Future for Australia's Older Workers
Author(s) -
McCallum John
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.1986.tb00816.x
Subject(s) - workforce , project commissioning , work (physics) , phenomenon , publishing , prejudice (legal term) , politics , political science , working life , age discrimination , public relations , sociology , demographic economics , economic growth , law , engineering , economics , mechanical engineering , philosophy , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics , quality (philosophy)
A rapid decline in workforce participation of older Australians raises the question of the right of older workers to work. No one necessarily has a right to a job, rather the emphasis is on the right to seek work without fear of prejudice on the basis of gender or age, i.e. the right to free association. The international response to the same phenomenon, particularly in USA, Japan and Europe, is examined to show that there is an option for Australia in its response. Consequently an evaluation of the preferences of older workers for a longer working life is undertaken. There is cause for concern about older workers but some burst of age activism will be needed to bring it to the fore as a political issue.