Meanwhile, in a parallel reality, countries like Denmark are raising the state pension age to 70, due to increased life expectancy. With just 61.1 per cent employment in the 55-64 age group, Spain ranks among the worst-performing European states, well below the top-ranking Scandinavian countries. Various national and local initiatives are attempting to bring back older workers in Spain. This country, like Japan, has a culture of respect for senior citizens, but its labour market has long tended to concentrate older workers in lower-quality jobs. Older workers without formal social protection face extreme poverty, without access to decent pensions, forcing them to remain in informal subsistence work.