Abstract
Population ageing has produced a new socio-demographic category - "senior citizens" - whose interests and rights, the authors argue, are not adequately provided for in existing legal frameworks, which mostly pre-date the full-scale emergence of this population group. Taking a rights-based approach centring on the concepts of "social solidarity" and "social dignity", they propose to broaden the operational scope of this "framework human right". Their suggestions include a legally recognized status conferring a range of socio-economic rights to senior citizens; non-discrimination on grounds of age; greater flexibility in pension and retirement systems; and organized representation modelled on trade unionism and collective bargaining.