In light of the European Commission’s commitment to launching the first-ever EU Anti-Poverty Strategy, AGE Platform Europe highlights the urgent challenges faced by older people at risk of or already living in poverty and presents recommendations to tackle old-age poverty.
It is crucial to adopt a global and cross-cutting approach that recognises and addresses the interaction of the complex and multidimensional causes of poverty.
Our Policy Paper call on an Anti-Poverty Strategy that:
- Recognise and tackle ageism as a major obstacle in the fight against poverty among older persons in Europe and recommend the adoption of the horizontal Equality Directive to prohibit, among other grounds, age discrimination in all areas of social life.
- Adopt a human rights approach. The strategy must guarantee well-being and dignity, in parallel with the EU’s objectives of economic growth and competitiveness, by improving the financial security of people of all ages.
- Promote decent work by guaranteeing fair wages, including through the implementation of the 2022 directive on adequate wages in all EU Member States.
- Encourage Member States to adopt an automatic indexation of pensions while strengthening the indexation mechanism for the lowest incomes and ensure additional instruments to support purchasing power in periods of high inflation.
- Support Member States in the implementation of universal health coverage to ensure free or affordable access to essential services, including preventive and mental health care.
- Address the causes of energy poverty through the abolition of age limits in access to credit and credit scheme, available offline assistance, and access to information for all.
- Guarantee the right to participate at all ages, tailored to individual preferences and abilities.
- Paying particular attention to older women and addressing the significant pay gap between men and women which impacts pensions and contributes to an increased risk of poverty among older women.
An inclusive and effective Anti-Poverty Strategy must recognise the value of the lived experience of people affected by poverty. Their involvement makes it possible to better understand the realities on the ground and to develop measures that are genuinely appropriate, while strengthening their autonomy and dignity.
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