European Union Policy on Older Adult Learning: A Critical Commentary

an article by Marvin Formosa (European Centre for Gerontology, University of Malta) published in Journal of Aging & Social Policy Volume 24 Issue 4 (October-December 2012)

Abstract

This critical commentary discusses the strengths and lacunae in the European Union’s policy on older adult learning. Late-life learning is deemed as a productive investment on the basis that it not only engenders positive returns of economic growth but also improves the quality of life and social development of older persons.

This article argues that although European Union policy on lifelong learning does hold some promise toward more optimum levels of physical, psychological, and social well-being in later life, it remains characterised by a range of limitations ranging from mindless activism, to economic bias, to ageism.

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