Nordic countries are considering mandatory education for senior citizens still in the workforce. This plan aims to build better job diversity, achieve innovation, and to keep the countries' aging population in the labor force as long as they can.
Rising Retirement Age & Society's Evolution
Nordic countries are those located in northern Europe: Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, as well as Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Åland Islands territories. According to a report titled "Working Life in the Nordic Region," there's a need for new forms of education because of economy and technological evolution, as well as the rise in retirement or pension age.
Retirement ages in Nordic countries are slated to increase. In Denmark, for instance, the current retirement age is 65, but that will rise to 67 by 2022. In 2030, the retirement age will increase based on people's average lifespan, The Washington Post wrote.
Report author Poul Nielson, a member of Denmark's Social Democrats Party and a former European Union commissioner, said old people with ages between 60 and 65 still have five to 10 years in the workforce. And it doesn't make sense that they are not given training opportunities to invigorate their professional skills, which they can use in the job.
According to the report, providing mandatory training to the aging workforce could help put Nordic countries side-by-side with economically successful nations. That ambition may become a reality if Nordic countries' government would team up with social partners.
Senior Citizens Should Have Life Security
Nielson believes that his proposal is "visionary," and that Nordic countries should "think out of the box" if they want to compete globally. The Nordic Council, which was formed in 1952, serves as an inter-parliamentary body of cooperation between Nordic countries.
Nielson stressed that the number of old people in Nordic countries will inevitably grow. He believes that it is society's responsibility to ensure that those senior citizens will have a decent life security.
A 2012 report from the European Union supports Nielson's proposal. According to Quartz, the "number of people aged 80 years and up in Europe is projected to nearly triple from 23.7 million in 2010, to 62.4 million in 2060."
Providing back-to-school opportunities for adult and senior citizens isn't exactly unheard of. In Denmark, elderly people can enroll in folk high schools that provide short-term trainings in literature, math, and science. Those schools offer new lessons for adults without having to undergo examinations and papers like in normal school.
