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Generations Together

On this page:

  • What is intergenerational work?
  • The benefits of intergenerational work
  • What is Generations Together?
  • Intergenerational projects in Ireland - mapping report update
  • How can Age Action help with intergenerational projects?
  • Challenging ageism and preventing elder abuse workshops
  • Videos
  • Contact the Generations Together team

What is intergenerational work?

Intergenerational work is by no means a new concept; it has been around for decades however it has become increasingly popular in recent years. It is also now progressively more important in modern society with advances in technology and travel and where families are becoming more geographically dispersed. As a result of this, there is an increased focus on involving more people of mixed ages in local community action and increasing awareness of the benefits of age friendly communities.

A common definition of intergenerational work by the Beth Johnson Foundation (April 2001) is:

Intergenerational practice aims to bring people together in purposeful, mutually beneficial activities which promote greater understanding and respect between generations and contributes to building more cohesive communities. Intergenerational practice is inclusive, building on the positive resources that the young and old have to offer each other and those around them.

The benefits of intergenerational work

Some of the benefits of intergenerational work include:

  • Creation of age friendly communities.
  • All generations have a lot to both teach and learn from each other and contribute to lifelong learning.
  • Tackles issues around stereotyping and ageism.
  • Increases understanding and respect between older people and younger people.
  • Chance to make new friends and combats social isolation.
  • It's lots of fun!

What is Generations Together?

The Generations Together programme which was launched in April 2011, focuses on establishing new intergenerational projects and supporting existing projects. The programme supports practice that creates opportunities for older and younger people to meet and learn from each other and to bridge the divide between generations. It promotes inclusion and builds on the positive resources that different generations have to offer to each other and those around them. We work with youth groups and older groups in communities, schools and cross border projects. Our programme aims are:

  • To raise awareness and promote intergenerational work in Ireland
  • To provide guidance, advice & support on intergenerational activities
  • To provide training workshops
  • To organise intergenerational events
  • To take a collaborative approach to intergenerational work

Intergenerational Projects in Ireland – Mapping Report Update 2015

Intergenerational Programmes in Ireland - Mapping Report 2012

We need your help! We are currently updating our intergenerational report from 2012, which mapped out 28 intergenerational projects across Ireland. We know that there are a lot more intergenerational projects happening in communities nationwide and we want to hear about them! This is a great opportunity for your project to be recognised and archived in a report that will be made widely available to lots of different stakeholders as well as online. It is also hoped that the information gathered will feed into policy, practice and research and put the importance of intergenerational initiatives on the map!

Not sure if your project is intergenerational?

If it involved younger and older people coming together for a one off event or a longer project whereby they worked together and learned and shared from each other’s experiences and maybe had some fun in the process, then we want to hear from you! The project might still be on-going or it may have already finished – either way we would love to hear about it! (If you have a project in the pipeline that hasn’t started yet, please let us know too!)

Please fill in your project details in the online form available here or by spreading the word to your contacts.

Please note - hard copies of the form are also available if you need one. Get in touch with Keelin McCarthy via the phone number or email below.

Thank you!

Note: Download the "Intergenerational Programmes in Ireland 2012 report" below.

How can Age Action help with Intergenerational Projects?

  • Raise awareness of the importance of intergenerational work
  • Organise intergenerational events / projects
  • Provide advice, guidance & support to groups wanting to get involved
  • Provide intergenerational training workshops
  • Work in partnership with groups and organisations nationwide including Northern Ireland
  • Develop and provide Intergenerational Resources, such as: The National Youth Council of Ireland, in collaboration with Age Action, Linking Generations Northern Ireland and Cathrina Murphy, launched a new chapter in their online Diversity Toolkit (Access all Areas) which provides guidance on carrying out Intergenerational work. While the chapter is aimed at those working in the youth sector, the information can be applied to all sectors in helping to promote intergenerational interaction and practice in your community. The Working across the Generations toolkit is available by clicking here.

Challenge Ageism and Prevent Elder Abuse Workshops

Age Action has engaged in collaborative intergenerational work to help challenge ageism and prevent elder abuse, through a series of workshops and a report developed in conjuction with Cosc.

Contact the Generations Together team

We welcome any suggestions and ideas for the Programme so please get in touch if you would like to discuss an idea or if you would like some support for your project.  If you would like to hear more about the programme and our ongoing work, please sign up to our newsletter by contacting us at the email address below.

Billy O'Keeffe
Programme Manager - Lifelong Learning
Age Action Ireland
10a Grattan Crescent
Dublin 8

Tel. 01-4756989
Fax. 01-4756011
Email: generationstogether@ageaction.ie

Age Action welcomes enhanced fuel allowance for those aged 66+, but regrets state pension lost spending power and lack of supports for those living alone.

Reacting to Budget 2025, which fell on the International Day of Older Persons, Age Action’s policy adviser Nat O’Connor said “An additional €12 for those in receipt of a full state pension will help some older people to cover their weekly costs, but it means that for yet another budget cycle the state has failed to restore the state pension to the value it had in 2020. We would need to see it increased by a further €18 for it to cover as much as it did four years ago, when many people already struggled to meet their needs. Older people now have weaker income security because the government failed to deliver on its promise of benchmarking and indexing the state pension, which every other Western European country already does. Age Action renews its call for benchmarking and indexation, to protect our peace of mind in retirement.”  

He continued, “Age Action has strongly advocated for reform to the fuel allowance given that older people are at particular risk of energy poverty, due to disproportionally occupying Ireland’s most poorly insulated homes, and our bodies retaining less heat as we age. Age Action welcomes the government’s recognition of this reality through granting people aged 66+ access to the fuel allowance under a generous means test, which will go a long way to combatting energy poverty in older age.” 

He continued, “Age Action deeply regrets the government’s failure to adequately address the disadvantages experienced by older people living alone. This is a repeat of last year’s budget, when we raised concern that the state did not recognize them as a particular cohort of our society in need of targeted support. The living alone allowance has now been allowed to stagnate since 2022, when it was only raised by €3, and the fuel allowance for those aged 66+ allows people living alone barely over half the income of a couple, despite the most recent research showing they bear 79% of the same costs. The carer’s allowance means test allows older people living alone only half the income of those living with another. This demonstrates a pattern of disadvantage for older people living alone, who were hit hard by the cost-of-living crisis, being twice as likely to experience material deprivation in 2023 as they were in 2020, before inflation began to spike. They are also nearly three times as likely to experience material deprivation than couples aged 65+. Six in ten older people living alone are women, so failing to support older people living alone also means compounding gender inequality in older age, where there already exists a 35% gender pension gap.” 

“Age Action welcomes the introduction of a universal companion pass, which will come in in September 2025. We have long emphasised the transport inadequacy experienced by many older people in Ireland and how this contributes to social isolation and exclusion. The universal companion pass is a simple improvement that will be greatly appreciated by many older people, in particular those who find travelling alone difficult or impossible.” Dr O’Connor concluded.  

 

 

NOTES TO EDITORS 

Age Action is the leading advocacy organisation on ageing and older people in Ireland. Age Action advocates for a society that enables all older people to participate and to live full, independent lives, based on the realisation of rights and equality, recognising the diversity of experience and situation. Our mission is to achieve fundamental change in the lives of all older people by eliminating age discrimination, promoting positive ageing, and securing the right for all of us to comprehensive and high-quality services. 

 

Contact person for reactions, interviews, etc.: Carrie Benn, Head of Communications, 087 9957838 

 

The main points of Age Action’s Budget 2025 submissions are as follows: 

SECTION 1: SOCIAL PROTECTION 

  1. Benchmark and index the state pension so that its rate will always be at least equal to 34% of total average earnings, to be achieved by 2026. Increase the rate of the state pension by at least €20 in Budget 2025. 

  1. Introduce an Energy Guarantee for Older Persons payment to better target cash supports to lower income households and to those in poorly insulated homes, while also insulating them from spikes in inflation.  

  1. Target more support to older people living alone. 

  1. Index all social protection means tests and income thresholds to earnings and inflation, to stop eligibility for supports being effectively reduced by inflation. 

  1. Address anomalies and inequalities in the state pension entitlement of carers, which currently mean that long-term carers of up to 19 years may not receive any credit towards a contributory state pension if they do not also have 10 years of paid contributions.  

  1. Conduct a gender and equality review of the Total Contributions Approach (TCA) to calculating the rate of the state pension, and suspend use of TCA until this is concluded. 

  1. End stereotypical household assumptions in welfare eligibility criteria, which currently preclude some older persons from accessing income supports due to a household composition other than living alone or living as a couple. 

  1. Halt the option of a deferred state pension to 70 until multiple anomalies and inequities that are caused by the current scheme rules have been addressed. 

  1. Implement other social protection proposals, as outlined in Section 9. 

 

SECTION 2: REST OF GOVERNMENT 

  1. [PER] Appoint a Commissioner for Ageing and Older Persons, with a supporting legal framework and an independent budget, to ensure we are all treated fairly and with dignity as we age. [€2.5 million] 

  1. [ETE] Abolish the prevalent ageist practice of mandatory retirement, so that we all have the option to remain in or re-enter employment beyond age 65, as a step towards eliminating legally permitted age discrimination. [revenue raising, no estimate available] 

  1. [Finance/PER] Develop a comprehensive, all-of-government national ageing strategy, with a requirement for implementation plans in every relevant state agency, to eradicate ageism and to ensure that we prepare sufficiently for the demographic transition. [<€1 million] 

  1. [Health] Deliver on the pledge of a strong, fully universal and accessible healthcare system that is tax-funded and free-of-charge at the point of use. [€567 million] 

  1. [Finance/PER, and FHERIS re digital skills] Prohibit ‘digital only’ services, fund digital skills training and adequately resource traditional alternatives such as desk and telephone services, as a step towards implementing a rights-based approach to accessing publicly funded services. [€10 million] 

  1. [Health/CEDIY] Introduce a care strategy using a human rights-based approach to improve, expand, and harmonize our care options. [<€1 million] 

  1. [HLGH/Transport] Implement policies to ensure that all of us can age in place in our homes and communities, in particular, supports and protections for older persons renting, and the enforcement of universal design principles for all new builds. [€45 million] 

  1. [Foreign Affairs] Support the introduction of a UN Convention on the Rights of Older Persons to address the gaps in the existing human rights system by clarifying states’ human rights obligations and responsibilities towards older people. [<€1 million] 

  1. [Finance, and Taoiseach re CSO] Adopt the use of an Employment Based Dependency Ratio. [<€1 million] 

  1. [Finance] Increase the tax exemption thresholds for people aged 65+ to €22,320 for an individual and €44,640 for a couple. [revenue neutral] 

  1. [Finance] Reduce the extent to which high earners can avail of pension tax breaks and tax-free lump sums on retirement. [revenue raised: €500 million] 

  1. [Finance/Social Protection] Ensure that all departments update means tests and income thresholds in line with inflation and changes to social protection rates. [revenue neutral] 

  1. [Foreign Affairs] Increase official development aid to 0.7% GNI, including a focus on ageing. [€300 million] 

  1. [DRCD] Increase funding for SSNO and CVP grants by 25%. [€1.8 million] 

 

Age Action’s pre-budget submissions can be found here: https://www.ageaction.ie/how-we-can-help/campaigning-policy/age-action-budget-submissions-government