A/HRC/37/32 E. Older persons 34. The number of persons aged 60 and over is rising at an unprecedented rate, and is expected to increase from the estimated number of 962 million for 2017 to 1.4 billion by 2030.32 By 2050, all regions of the world (except Africa) will have nearly a quarter or more of their populations at ages 60 and above.33 35. Older persons face numerous challenges in their access to the right to decent work, such as age-based discrimination in both the job market and at work. Older people may face prejudice when applying for jobs, seeking promotions or undertaking training, or may be subject to harassment in the workplace. One common complaint made to national human rights institutions by ageing and older persons was that of having been refused employment, interviews or other opportunities to find work because of their age.34 36. Most older women are excluded from formal social security and health insurance schemes, as they are linked to paid, formal-sector employment. In developing countries, the great majority of women work all their lives in the informal sector or doing unpaid activities. In developed countries, older women are more likely than men to be poor. On average, in European Union countries, older women have a poverty risk rate of about 22 per cent, compared to a rate of 16 per cent for older men. They are less likely to receive a large contributory pension since they are more likely to have stopped working at some point over their lifetime to take on the responsibilities of child rearing, and are also more likely to have received lesser wages for their work than men. 37. The protection of the right of older persons to work hinges to a great extent on measures to address discrimination in access to work and in the workplace. The measures should be coupled with interventions to address gender discrimination, and other forms of discrimination that have an impact on access to employment and the enjoyment of the right to just and favourable working conditions. States should give due consideration to establishing non-contributory pensions as a means of ensuring the right to social security for older women and compensating them for their years of unpaid or inadequately paid work. In order to ensure equal access by older women to a social pension, however, special measures should be taken to overcome possible barriers caused by structural discrimination, such as lack of access to adequate documentation and identification, difficulties approaching administrations, or lack of gender-sensitive social services (A/HRC/33/44, paras. 51-57).35 38. According to information received from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, some States (such as Denmark) have abolished the upper age limits for employment, thereby allowing those who were above the limit beforehand to continue to work or to seek employment. Furthermore, dismissal or the withholding a job offer on the basis of a person’s age would constitute age discrimination. Several European States have also made financial incentives available to employers for hiring older workers. V. Issues relevant to the implementation of the right to work and the Sustainable Development Goals A. Adequate and accessible social security 39. The right to decent work includes adequate and accessible social protection. This is also included in Sustainable Development Goal 1 (on ending poverty in all its forms everywhere), which includes target 1.3 that requires States to implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including floors. Under article 9 32 33 34 35 Department of Economic and Social Affairs, World Population Prospects: 2017 Update. Ibid. Ibid. See also Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights general comment No. 19 (2007) on the right to social security (art. 9), para. 32. 9