Abstract
Europe is ageing fast and people are living much longer than previously. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) (2005) estimates that by 2050 the ‘age dependency ratio’ — those dependent on being supported by those in employment within the EU countries — will rise to 55 per cent. This compares to the 20–30 per cent ‘age dependency ratio’ found in the G7 countries currently. To add to this scenario, some EU economies, notably France, Germany and Italy, are still subsidising early retirements (OECD, 2005), although some like France are making efforts to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 (BBC, 2010). Hart et al. (2004, p. 3) noted that ‘each successive generation of men is less likely to be employed at the age of 50 than the preceding generation’. Medical science for its part is making it possible for people to live and work longer.
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© 2012 Lorraine Watkins-Mathys
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Watkins-Mathys, L. (2012). Age and Grey Entrepreneurship. In: Moss, G. (eds) Lessons on Profiting from Diversity. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230355057_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230355057_4
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