Senior Citizens Minister Maggie Barry has welcomed a report highlighting the value of older workers to New Zealand’s economy – and identifying the discrimination many of them still face.

The Workforce Ageing Survey 2014 has found workers aged 50 and over are seen as valuable and hardworking by employers – regarded as more productive and better in a crisis.

2,631 employers and employees from Crown Entities and District Health Boards took part in the survey, a collaboration between the Office for Senior Citizens and the Human Rights Commission.

Senior Citizens Minister Maggie Barry says the latest SuperGold business recruitment campaign has achieved its aim of signing up more health professionals and lawyers.

The campaign ran over March and April and resulted in more than 650 new businesses offering discounts. Among them are 60 dental practices and more than 40 legal firms around the country.

Around 70% of these new businesses have come from outside of the main centres.

The value of older people to New Zealand has been spelled out in a new report released today by Senior Citizens Minister Maggie Barry.

The 2014 Report on the Positive Ageing Strategy, from the Office for Senior Citizens, examines how New Zealand has progressed towards the goals from the original strategy, launched in 2001.

It also provides guidance for Government and local councils on planning for the issues facing older people now and in future.

Senior Citizens Minister Maggie Barry has launched a new range of multilingual resources to help New Zealanders protect their future with an Enduring Power of Attorney (EPA).

Two pamphlets which explain how to set up an EPA have been translated into nine different languages and are now available for free online.

Senior Citizens Minister Maggie Barry today announced the winners of the national youth essay competition, ‘1914 – 2014: The greatest greats and grands of the last 100 years.’