Older Persons' Right to Work and Productive Resources

The right to work is a fundamental human right that is universally recognized as an inherent part of human dignity for persons of all ages. However, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has noted that older workers are often devalued by prospective employers as being unproductive, slower and more prone to disease, unfit to learn and a burden to highly technological work environments. In addition, while employers have been increasing their focus on diversity, equity and inclusion in their workforce, only a small percentage of them have explicitly included age in their recruiting strategies. Older persons also face challenges in launching their own productive activities due to the denial of reasonable access to necessary resources such as loans, insurance, land or rent on the basis of age. Older persons faced with barriers to accessing work and productive resources are at higher risk of economic insecurity and are often forced to endure extreme poverty