Theme Areas
Productivity & Economic Security

Background information

The cornerstones of the Productivity and Economic Security Theme Area are the National Institute of Labour Force Studies at Flinders University and the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. Both Centres have recognised excellence for quality research of direct relevance to policymaking. They are lead research groups in the domains of developments in the labour market, and the complexities of social welfare policy. Each also has strong links with policy makers and is skilled in policy-relevant research and the presentation of research findings. Labour markets, social welfare, and opportunities to apply social capital are central to the capacity of older people to have productive and financially secure lives. The Theme node will draw in additional Network Member’s who are expert in the complex areas of financial strategies, instruments and protections for private provision of financial security, and health economics.

This theme is convened by Professor Sue Richardson with Professor Peter Saunders as the Co- Convener. The productivity of older people is crucial to the issue of whether the ageing of the population will generate an unbearable burden of dependency on the working age group. The concept of productivity needs to be extended beyond the conventional notion of producing goods and services for sale in order to understand the contribution that older people make to society.

Some of the issues within the scope of this theme, and in which Participant Members have considerable expertise, include:

• the willingness of employers to hire older workers
• factors affecting retirement decision-making
• the changing character of labour markets
• informal contributions to productivity and how we value them
• the increased propensity to live alone and how this might relate to domestic productivity
• feelings of safety and mastery of domestic technologies and the technologies of consumption (such as banking and payment systems, public transport and libraries) in enabling older people to be self-providing in the domestic sphere
• adequacy of savings and public and private financial risk sharing
• enhancing the capacity of older people, particularly women, to manage their assets for and in retirement and what works to help protect people from financial abuse and fraud

Current activities