To what extent and in what ways is the ageing of European societies a problem?

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LIZ BACON

SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND SOCIAL POLICY 2

A COMPARATIVE APPROACH

QUESTION: To what extent and in what ways is the ageing of European societies a problem?

It is quite clear through surveys and statistics that there are increasing numbers of elderly people throughout Europe. “In January 1993, there were 117 million people aged 50 years and over and nearly 75 million older people aged 60 and over in the 15 countries in the EU. The data indicates that by the year 2000 people aged 60 or over will comprise more than one-fifth of the population and by 2020, they will represent more than one-quarter.” {source; Eurostat, Demographic Statistics, 1995, in Ageing Europe, p 11 } People are now living a lot more longer due to the advancements that have been made in medical technology and medicine, this may cause some problems in the future for some European Societies that are trying to find adequate ways of dealing with an ageing population, which includes providing pensions and health and social care for them when it is needed. There seems to be more people that are retiring younger and if they are made redundant at an older age it becomes increasingly difficult for them to find employment. This means that a large amount of elderly people are living in poverty. If the number of elderly people in European societies is going to continue to increase, like the statistics suggest, there needs to be adequate policies to deal with their economic, health and social care needs.

WHY IS THERE AN AGEING OF POPULATIONS THROUGHOUT THE EUROPEAN SOCIETIES?

One of the most significant trends of the twentieth century, is the decline in the birth rate, this means that the proportion of older people is increasing larger than the number of children. Another factor is the improvement of the life expectancy of people throughout this century. “United Kingdom life expectancy has risen by more than twenty years this century.”{OPCS, 1991, Henwood, 1992, Bond, Coleman, Peace, 1993, p2} This is due to the rising living standards and more advanced medicine that is used to reduce the amount of disease that previously would have resulted in death. The statistics also show that the life expectancy of women has increased greater than men.  Arber and Ginn show that in ‘comparing 65 year olds in 1906 and 1985 a man can now expect to live for another 13 years, instead of 11, but a woman can expect another 17 years instead of 12.” (Bond, Coleman, Peace, 1993, p 4) There is a significant problem throughout most industrial countries with women having some of the poorest living conditions in the EU. “This is because in all industrial societies, retirement income is built on four pillars: a basic pension provided by the state together with their social security income, a supplementary occupational pension, personal savings and employment income.” { Walker and Maltby, 1997, p 44) This means mat women currently have less financial security in old age compared with men. ‘he only countries within the EU that have the same pension schemes for both men and women, which is based on citizenship regardless of their employment record is the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

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EARLY RETIREMENT IN EUROPEAN SOCIETIES

There has been a growing number of elderly people within European Societies over the last twenty years that have taken early retirement. “The Netherlands and France have experienced the sharpest fall in employment rates among men aged 5-64 (45 per cent and 43 per cent respectively) between 1971 and 1991. In Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK there was a 30 per cent reduction in the employment rate of this group over the same period.” {Walker and Maltby, 997, p 72) The reason for people having an early retirement may not have been ...

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