A sustainable working life for all ages – The swAge-model: 20th Congress of the International Ergonomics Association, IEA 2018

The demographic shift is fast becoming a global challenge and an important public health concern. The proportion of people over 65 years is currently 10% around the world, but it is expected to rise to 22% by the year 2050 [1]. Populations ageing rapidly is widely seen as one of the most powerful transformative forces affecting society over the next four decades [1–4]. The ageing population is probably one of the most significant threats to global wealth because of the potential strains it imposes on the robustness of social welfare, public health, and economic prosperity. The challenges and opportunities posed by this demographic shift are therefore of special interest to sustainable societies and require the implementation of policies to help people stay healthy and active while ageing, but also to work longer providing the welfare systems.