European Policy Analysis Volume 2, Number 1, Spring 2016 | Page 93

European Policy Analysis

established retirement age, which serves
as an impetus to withdraw from the labor
market. The organizational policy aiming
at employees’ work satisfaction, a positive
employer’s attitude could also encourage
continuing their working career. The
issue of work productivity is one of the
main reasons for the prolongation of the
working career of older age persons. The
productivity of work is usually associated
with the accessibility of lifelong learning
and with the complex set of job adjustment
characteristics.

Even though Central and Eastern
European countries adopted the active
aging strategies later than Western
European countries, the policy aiming
at the implementation of these strategies
comprises the general mainstream: lifelong
learning, wage subsidies, vocational
training, flexible work arrangements,
healthy working life, and higher protection
of dismissal.

In the context of the aging society,
to prolong the participation of older age
persons in the labor market and to balance
the labor force supply and demand, it
is obvious that these policy means are
not sufficient in Central and Eastern
European countries and their application
is patchy. The overall labor market policy
for all persons in employment faces
challenges since the decision of persons
to continue with their work career after
the retirement age faces a number of
problems of poor work conditions, such
as working overtime, lack of autonomy
at work and family–work imbalance, and
the view of the employer that is not yet
positive. The economic situation of the
countries that is overall poor is a coercive
rather than motivational measure for the
prolongation of working career, and work
pay is one of the factors that encourage

to work. The gaps of participation and
active aging policy, such as participation
in lifelong learning and training
opportunities as the main presumptions
to preserve labor productivity, have not
been filled yet. The services of supervision
are not sufficient; hence, family care
obligations make persons withdraw from
the market. Inadequate effectiveness of the
antidiscrimination policy also determines
the wish to retire and discontinue the
working career in Central and Eastern
European countries.

References
Aidukaitė, Jolanta. 2004. “The emergence
of the post-socialist welfare state—The
case of the Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia
and Lithuania.” Doctoral dissertation.
Stockholms Universitet.
Aidukaitė, Jolanta. 2009. “The Welfare
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of European Welfare Systems, eds. Klaus
Schubert, Simon Hegelich, and Ursula
Bazant. London ; New York : Routledge,
294–309.
Armstrong- Stassen, Marjorie. 2008.
“Organisational Practices and the Post
Retirement Employment Experience
of Older Workers.” Human Resource
Management Journal 18 (1): 36–53.
Barbier, Jean-Claude, Ralf Rogowski,
and Fabrive Colomb, eds. 2015. The
Sustainability of the European Social
Model: EU Governance, Social Protection
and Employment Policies in Europe.
Edward Elgar Publishing. Cheltenham
UK, Northampton USA.
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