The concept of active ageing has become central to the European policy discourse in recent years. Aiming to optimize opportunities for health, participation and socioeconomic security, active ageing policies suggest that one way that disadvantages in health and living conditions in old age can be mitigated is by fostering older people’s own contributions to the labour market and to society. Crucially, however, the ability to contribute depends on socio-demographic and socioeconomic factors, and the access to resources that these afford. For instance, for women these resources are frequently less readily available, due to their reproductive roles over the life course, and their higher likelihood to become widowed and live alone in older age. To date, research on active ageing has paid little attention to these factors and how they influence the degree to which it is possible to ‘actively’ age for older women and men, and for different socio-economic groups of older people.

This symposium aims to highlight inequalities in the experiences of active ageing from a comprehensive European perspective, as well as focussing in-depth on three countries representing three distinct welfare regimes in Europe: Germany, England and Sweden. The three single-country case studies showcase how inequalities in workability, pension literacy and living situation influence participation in the labour market and in society. In addition, an alternative policy framework is suggested, going beyond aggregated measures of ‘active ageing’ by acknowledging the role of socio-demographic and socioeconomic inequalities across the life course.