Over the last half-century, life expectancy has extended for over 20 years in developed countries, and the process continues. This means that senior generations, over 65 years, represent about 30% of the total population.

Needless to say, this intense demographic transformation brings about major changes in many domains of public policy, from employment and labor market to healthcare and social services—as well as a new dimension to the potential of intergenerational collaboration. In response to these changes, a new concept has developed, the silver economy.

The big question is, of course, have societies, and particularly their governments, fully understood these changes, and are they capable of properly adjusting? The answer is: generally not, with very few exceptions—not more than 10 countries around the globe. No surprise, these are the Nordic Five, Switzerland, Canada, New Zealand, Japan, and Singapore.

The challenges of the aging population were pointed out at the UN already back in 1991 when a document entitled "Principles for the Elderly" was adopted, and 20 years later, the "Silver Economy Initiative" was prepared by the influential international OECD group.

It is somewhat surprising that very few people, as well as governments, are aware of the scale and importance of the silver economy. Thus, for example, the value of the European silver economy, GDP—which is characterized by strong dynamics—rose from €3.7 trillion to €6.4 trillion in the period 2015-2023, reaching 32% of the EU's GDP. The number of »silver« jobs came to 88 million, which translates to 38% of the total. Today, the global silver economy is the third largest economy in the world (after the United States and China).

Currently, 32% of the population in Slovenia receives pensions (the EU average is 27%, the highest in Europe is in Switzerland (36%), and the lowest in Cyprus (19%). The percentage of people of working age (20-64) in the EU was 58.6% in 2022—a share that will fall to 51.6% by 2070. For the U.S., the figures are 58.1% and 53.8%, respectively.

It is difficult to understand that the world is so slow to adapt to more than obvious changes such as the aging of the population, and that, in public opinion, older people represent a group that is primarily a burden and a cost to society. In fact, however, the figures vary widely, with only 6% of people over the age of 50 in France being economically dependent but contributing more than half to value-added growth and 30% to productivity growth and disposing of most of the savings and bank deposits.

The key problem is, of course, the deep-rooted practice of retiring at the age of 65, which was abandoned in Japan and the United States years ago (the share of seniors among employees over 65 is 20% in the United States and even 23% in Japan). In Japan, a law was passed 5 years ago that leaves the decision to retire to the person concerned and the employer.

In all OECD countries, the age is being moved as a legal condition for retirement—for the time being, mostly by 3-4 years, and the process will logically continue as a result of longer life expectancy. In Finland, the proportion of employed seniors rose by 23% in the decade 1997-2007, but not coincidentally—about 40 measures were taken. In New Zealand and Iceland, the share of seniors still in employment has risen to over 50%, while in Slovenia it remains at 5%.

Seniors in Slovenia account for 21% of the total population (Austria 19%, Norway 17%, and Luxembourg 15%), but their position is not the most appropriate or favorable: both in terms of their actual employment and in terms of the prevailing assessment of their potential to contribute to society as an active person. According to the Eurobarometer survey, the share of positive responses in Slovenia was 45%, the EU average was 65%, and in Finland it was even 74%. This points to the problem of ageism in Slovenia and many other European countries.

It is not surprising that—according to a recent survey in Slovenia—about 80% of seniors do not feel comfortable in their work environment—in Finland, this proportion is only 20%.

How many Slovenian pensioners are still working? Of the total of 645,000 pension recipients, just over 20,000 are currently working and therefore receive 40% or 20% of their pension on this basis. Slovenia also has a rather unfavorable ratio between active and pensioners (1.3 actives per pensioner).

In 2024, in the EU, 13% of seniors continue to work. Of the total population, 32% of the population is employed in the EU, and 40% of the population is in Slovenia.

In the EU, the main motive for further employment is integration in society (11.2%), followed by financial reasons (9.1%).

The fundamental problem is that most societies perceive pensions as "our help to the" elderly"—forgetting that this is only partially true: the pension fund in 2025 in Slovenia amounts to €8.4 billion, and the contribution from the budget is €1.5 billion—that is, only 17.8%. It is therefore primarily about the money that pensioners have paid into the pension funds during their 40 working years. Slovenian tax legislation is not yet sufficiently favorable to the activities of seniors: they lose part of their earned pension, and the taxation of part-time earnings in the country is among the highest in the world.

This shows that Slovenia has a double challenge: to create legal and tax conditions that will be sufficiently friendly to maintaining seniors active and thus integrating seniors into society. At the same time, however, it is also necessary to contribute to a shift in mindset among employers and seniors themselves, that the silver economy is welcome for both, as well as beneficial for society as a whole.

In Slovenia, there are two key documents in this area: the White Paper on Pensions and the Strategy for a Long-Lived Society. But unfortunately, there are long delays between the definitions in principle and the practical measures. With the adoption of the ZUIF (new labor law), we have confirmed the mandatory retirement at the age of 65, which shows that we are lagging behind developed countries in thinking about the silver economy. One key problem is that there is still a significant misconception that the prolonged activity of seniors limits young people's employment opportunities. This is contradicted by data for countries where the silver economy is well developed, and it has been proven to contribute to economic and overall progress—by creating new jobs.

In the last 20 years, quite a few organizations and associations dealing with the issue of seniors have developed in Slovenia, e.g., the annual Festival of Seniors in DIC, the Slovenian University for the Third Age, the Union of Pensioners, the Association of Seniors, Symbiosis between Generations, etc. Unfortunately, there is too little cooperation between them. Recently, a political party of seniors has been re-established, which is likely to contribute to raising awareness of the issue of seniors and thus the potential of the silver economy. Unfortunately, they all act more as defenders of the interests of seniors than as advocates of the silver economy, which concerns all members of society.

A high-quality silver economy and a good life for seniors naturally require the regulation of many areas: from adequate pension and tax legislation, a well-functioning labor market, support for new and small businesses, and the social protection system to adequate healthcare, education, and active support for intergenerational cooperation. So far, there is not enough public discussion about the silver economy.

For Slovenia, it must be said that certain challenges remain in all areas, but the country is distinguished by its safety, which is by no means unimportant for the quality of life of seniors. Given the regulation of living conditions, Slovenia could even become one of the destinations for pensioners from many European countries – such as Greece, Spain, and Portugal. This, of course, would require some additional effort on the part of the national government and regional authorities, but it would bring important revenues.

Some proposals and recommendations for the future silver economy:

  • Most countries are lagging behind demographic change, and, as a result, the senior generations—which account for at least half of the wisdom and experience in society—are strongly underutilized. The focus is predominantly still limited to the specific problems of the silver generations (pensions, healthcare, social care, etc.).

  • Unfortunately, a large part of seniors also subconsciously accept such an ageist approach and do not see themselves as part of the wider challenges and poorly used potential of modern society, but primarily as a problem and burden.

  • Many young people see seniors primarily as unfair competition in the labor market. When they grow older, they lose interest in the issue.

  • It is necessary to raise awareness of the importance of the silver economy in all parts of society (in the EU it already accounts for 32% of GDP) and to create appropriate systemic conditions for its successful functioning by the state.