Active ageing

Europeans demography shifts towards an elder population with lower birth rates.

This will have repercussions on the European economy as less and less active people will support the social costs of health-care and pension of those who stopped working.

[2] At the end of the 20th century organizations such as the OECD and the International Labour Organization used the concept to address the challenges faced by the labour market: lengthening of retirement, maintaining the elderly in employment, etc.

From this point of view an elder should optimize his or her health in order to benefit his or her own life as much as enrich the collectivity.

Critics condemn the normativity of this model as "successfully" ageing in which elders have to stay active and be involved in activities recognized as beneficial without taking into account their heterogeneous life courses.