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The policies, practices and predicaments of senior employment in Hong Kong and Singapore

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2017

PAUL HIGGINS  and
LINA VYAS
PAUL HIGGINS*
Affiliation:
Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
LINA VYAS
Affiliation:
Department of Asian and Policy Studies, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong.
*
Address for correspondence: Paul Higgins, Department of Public Policy, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon, Hong Kong E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The ageing of populations is an unprecedented worldwide phenomenon that has created anxiety about labour and skill shortages in many developed countries. One way to address these concerns is to extend the working lives of seniors through appropriate retirement, retention and recruitment policies. This paper utilises official policy documentation and employment data to compare the policies, practices and predicaments of senior employment in Hong Kong and Singapore, two of developed Asia's most ageing economies. It finds that while labour force participation rates among Hong Kong seniors have declined since the early 1990s, older workers in Singapore remain largely confined to the secondary labour market. This paper examines why these trends are occurring and whether longer working lives will lead to greater opportunities for ‘active ageing’ in employment or, conversely, force older workers into a reserve army of labour to maintain their incomes.

Keywords

older workersemploymentSingaporeHong Kongactive ageingreserve army of labour
Type
Article
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 38 , Issue 8 , August 2018 , pp. 1715 - 1739
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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