Other countries learn from their elders’ wisdom – so could Britain

Germany’s Senior Expert Service has a pool of more than 14,000 people and has arranged 60,000 placements. Photograph: Peter M Fisher/Getty Images

Your feature on the 90-year-old bodybuilder Toshisuke Kanazawa was a joy (‘I’m 100% natural’: how Japan’s 90-year-old bodybuilder is still winning titles, 25 September), but it’s also a useful provocation. Almost 30% of Japan’s 123.7 million people are over 64 yet, rather than being written off, people like Kanazawa are still contributing well into their 90s.

Britain does the opposite. Between 670,000 and 860,000 people drop out of the UK workforce annually, and by their 60s more than a third of people are economically inactive. The loss is a stock of judgment and knowhow that simply walks out of the door.