title: European Union policy on older adult learning: a critical commentary.
abstract: This critical commentary discusses the strengths and lacunae in the European Union's policy on older adult learning. Late-life learning is deemed as a productive investment on the basis that it not only engenders positive returns of economic growth but also improves the quality of life and social development of older persons. This article argues that although European Union policy on lifelong learning does hold some promise toward more optimum levels of physical, psychological, and social well-being in later life, it remains characterized by a range of limitations ranging from mindless activism, to economic bias, to ageism.
authors.affiliation: European Centre for Gerontology, University of Malta, Malta. marvin.formosa@um.edu.mt
authors.forename: Marvin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Formosa
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D063506:Ageism; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D004465:Economic Competition; D004496:Education, Continuing; D005062:European Union; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011640:Public Policy; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D012917:Social Adjustment; D012945:Social Values