Recently，Sajia Ferdous, a lecturer at the Business School of Queen's University Belfast, UK, wrote an article on the "Dialogue" website，The meaning of the familiar word "retirement" is changing，The concept of working age needs to be rethought。

Article mentioned，A clear working age can help individuals better plan their retirement life，Also helps the government formulate spending plans。However，In social environment、Job Market、Education System、When retirement policies and trends change，The working age defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development is still 15-64 years old。Given that a large number of people outside this age range are also contributing to the economy in formal or informal ways，It may not be reasonable to still use it as a standard measurement。It is not advisable to only focus on actual age，The existing concept of working age may become less and less important，bet365 best casino games To this，Society needs to respond with more dynamic and innovative solutions。An alternative used in some countries is functional age，Measure a person’s physical and mental abilities，This is especially used for eyesight、Body function status、Brain Age、Pilots with special requirements such as decision-making ability、Firefighter、Police and other professional fields。In Ferdus’ opinion，Using functional age as a mainstream measure is not necessarily the way forward，But it does illustrate the possibility of exploring different approaches。

Ferdus’ research shows，People’s cognitive age、Biological age、Other indicators such as functional age and social age (self-perception of age and social norms of behavior corresponding to age) also affect their work、Income and affordability，Not always consistent with a person’s actual age。People of working age，It may also be due to physical impairment、Facing difficulties in obtaining income due to caring responsibilities and other reasons，Different groups’ motivations for engaging in paid work、Focus and opportunities are also different。If bet365 Play online games only actual age is used for economic and social planning，Not only will there be obvious costs，It also exacerbates ageism in society and in the workplace。For example，Research findings，The elderly are often considered to be physically fragile、Low productivity、Contribute less and earn more，Facing challenges when applying，Easier to be laid off at work，Also often considered by employers to be more difficult to train。Feldous thinks，Current economic and social systems reinforce that chronological age is the best measure of the “usefulness” of older people in the economy and society，This kind of arbitrariness makes age discrimination deeply rooted。If the concept of treating the elderly as a “burden” cannot be changed，This stereotype will be unlikely to loosen。

In exploring how to change the understanding of working age，Feldous reviewed the history and starting point of the emergence of this concept。The concept of working age emerged in the period marked by the industrial revolution and the development of modern labor economics，At that time，As society bet365 Play online games transitions from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy，Understanding the age structure of the workforce is critical to effective economic planning。Important historical events in legislation include the British Factory Act passed in 1833 and the Fisher Education Act passed in 1918，Reflects the search for a formal working age structure and an attempt to alleviate the exploitation of child labor and improve workers’ living conditions。

Different from the consideration of the lower working age limit，The establishment of the upper limit is based on data discovery，People may still be in paid employment at age 64 or 65，The proportion began to decrease significantly after that。This age range is used to formulate employment policies、Social security system、Benchmark for health services and economic forecasting and analysis，Some major international organizations also use this classification standard，Ensure different countries、Ability to maintain consistency in data collection and reporting over different periods。An important demographic indicator derived from this is the old-age dependency bet365 live casino games ratio (OADR)，Used to measure the ratio of non-working-age seniors to the working-age population。This is useful for measuring the economic load of a productive population，Indicates how many people of a certain age group are working and paying taxes，To maintain the operation of infrastructure and public services。If there is a demographic imbalance，That is, able to work and undertake public services、The operating costs of the social security system are decreasing for the population，Will likely lead to a strain on wealth and resources at the national level。

Article noted，The current rigid concept of working age pits the elderly against the young，Created an artificial age gap，This tends to exacerbate intergenerational tensions and competition for resources。Even matching the upper working age limit to the state pension age，Considering the trend of population longevity，Still arbitrary。An alternative indicator is the activity dependency ratio (ADR)，That is, the ratio of people who are not engaged in economic activities to those who are engaged in economic activities。However，Due to certain bet365 live casino games social and cultural factors that will affect people’s economic independence，This is not a perfect measure。

Changes to the status quo are complex and time-consuming，Need to adjust and reorganize all levels of the current system，But the direction of change is to gradually weaken the over-reliance on chronological age as a measure，Promote the elimination of artificial age gaps，Reassess age、The relationship between society and economy。Feldous said，Society needs a dynamic、An age-fluid approach，Help people better understand the significance of financial and non-financial needs and contributions。

(Fang Ling/Compiler)