14% of retired people in Lebanon continue to work

As part of its initiative to ‘promote the culture of retirement and utilize the retirees’ expertise in Lebanon’, the Ministry of Social Affairs celebrated yesterday ‘the day of loyalty to the retired’. The event which was held at the Bar Association honored more than 260 retired staff in the presence of a large number of political and military officials as well as media figures, unionists and retirees. The Deputy Chairperson of the Family Affairs Department at the Ministry, Fernand Abi Haidar, stated the objective of the project which is to highlight the significance of utilizing the experience and skills of retired employees needed to achieve local community development while promoting the concepts of participation and volunteering. For his part, Social Affairs Minister, Rashid Derbas, citing studies surveying the living conditions in Lebanon, said that 14% of people in the retirement age group continue to work, accounting for nearly 4.5% of the total national workforce. Commenting on above findings, Derbas said “this is a solid proof that retired people can still remain productive and are capable of giving.” (Al Diyar, 3 June 2015)