A Social Report for Ireland Volume II - the NESC Website

837.1 Understanding the Well-being of People of Working AgeIn adopting a life cycle approach, a key cohort in terms of size and contribution ispeople of working age. This chapter examines the well-being and key characteristicsof this life cycle group. The working age cohort comprises individuals aged 18 to64. In this stage of the life cycle people are forming and re-forming families andhouseholds, participating in society through employment or a range of otheractivities, and accumulating wealth. The contribution and well-being of the workingage cohort are influenced by their childhood experiences and also their preparationfor older age.A key characteristic of the working age life cycle group is their diversity. Theage group spans 46 years and can be sub divided into ‘young adults’ (18-29) and‘anchor adults’ (30-64). A key feature of young adults is their transitions – into thelabour market, into independent living and into parenthood. Anchor adults arecharacterised by their responsibilities – mortgage, child rearing, eldercare, savingfor retirement (National Economic and Social Council, 2005a: 226). This chapterseeks to assess the impact of these transitional and responsibility aspects on thewell-being of working age people. Where appropriate, attention is drawn to subgroups where their well-being is adversely affected, bearing in mind the uncertainconnection between individual and collective well-being, as well as the prevalenceof many social deficits even at a time when there has been an overall positive trendin collective well-being across the domains (see Chapter 4, Volume I).There is no specific literature relating to the well-being of the ‘working age’population. Most of the general well-being literature spans the life course, withmuch of it related to the working age population – in relation to standard of living,quality of life and general happiness. Many of the well-being discourses reviewedin Chapter 2 Understanding Well-being (Volume I) are relevant to the workingage population.In line with the other three life cycle chapters (Volume II, Part 4), it is useful to situatethe life cycle group in the context of the overarching human rights framework. Inthe case of people of working age, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, towhich Ireland is a signatory, recognises the importance of fundamental rights—tofreedom; to equal treatment; to security; to relationships and social opportunities;to development; to material possessions; to work, education and health; to leisure;to an adequate standard of living—for all human beings.