Recent Public Policies and Best Practice in Selected European Countries

Abstract

This chapter is divided in two sections: the first section analyses recent best practice of four countries (Finland, Denmark, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands) having adopted what one can call a global policy or an holistic approach with the aim of increasing participation of older workers in the labour market; the second section examines the case of five countries (Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland and Hungary) which have taken a number of specific steps towards the same objective but their policy is not yet global, and results have not yet been very conclusive. The case of Switzerland is different; it is one of the countries with the highest employment rate of workers beyond 60 but no official policy has been adopted so far. Each country is analysed in a similar manner so as to facilitate comparisons: first, general outlook; second, new public policies in the field of pensions, social welfare and employment; third, new practice with (when available) a number of results.