16 March 2004

COLOGNE – Work prospects for people over 55 in Germany compare unfavourably with those of several other western industrial nations in a trend against older workers, data released by a Cologne economic institute showed.

By comparison, 68 percent of workers in Sweden in the above-55 group were employed in 2002, with the figure 65 percent in Switzerland and 60 percent in the United States, the IW said.

In Britain, 53 percent of workers were in the over-55 group in 2002, while the figure was 48 percent in Ireland, it said.