Age Diversity: Applying the Capabilities Approach to Retirement and Career Development across the Life Course
Prof. Alfred Chan, Dr. Carol Ma and Mr. Chad Chan, Lingnan University
Dr. Matt Flynn, Dr. Hafiz Khan, Dr. Uracha Chatrakul, Centre for Research into the Older Workforce (CROW), Newcastle University
About the project
This research was sponsored by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Research Grant Council (RGC). Its aim was to explore the choices workers have with regards to how and when they retire, thereby fostering workplaces in which people can pursue longer, healthier and more productive careers. The project was carried out with four elements:
1) Interviews with representatives in government, employer groups, unions and age advocacy groups in the UK and Hong Kong. We talked to stakeholders about public policy changes in relation to work, retirement and pensions
2) Within six case study, interviews were conducted with HR managers, line managers and employees. The case studies explored how employers in education, social care and banking are responding to ageing workplaces
3) An online survey of workers exploring retirement choices; work circumstances; perceptions of workplace factors such as social norms and relationships with managers and colleagues; views on their own skills and workplace strengths; and their overall quality of life
4) A co-design/co-produced research project with the Manchester based Wai Yin group exploring issues of employability and joblessness in the older Chinese migrant community. The study identified routes to employment for people who have retired early
About our Lingnan University partner
Professor Chan is the Professor in Sociology and Gerontology of Lingnan University and the Chairman of the Elderly Commission in Hong Kong. He is internationally recognised researcher on age and is a key adviser on ageing to the United Nation Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
ILC-UK think piece
In 2000, the Hong Kong government passed legislation setting up the Mandatory Provident Fund. Dr Flynn wrote a think piece for the International Longevity Centre on MPF and lessons which the UK government can learn as it rolls out the new Workplace Pension. The think piece can be found by clicking on the link below.
