CONSTRUCTING OLDER WORKERS Cultural Meanings of Age and Work

Abstract

Older workers have been attracting increasing public, government, academic and organisational interest over the last two decades. Demographic projections are often cited to emphasise the importance of the issue, for example the International Labour Organisation has estimated that by 2025, 32 per cent of the population in Europe will be over 55 years compared to 30 per cent in North America, 21 per cent in Asia, and 17 per cent in Latin America (Ilmarinen 2001). In the year 2000, the median age of a worker in the USA was 40 years, the age at which they are considered to be an ‘older worker’ under the Age Discrimination and Employment Act (McMahan & Phillips 2000). More broadly, the consequenc..