On 11 October 2023, the European Commission put forward the Communication “Demographic change in Europe: a toolbox for action”, upon the request of the Member States, as stated in the Conclusions of the European Council of June 2023.
The Communication stresses that in the coming decades the EU’s population is expected to shrink and age, with significant consequences for the labour market and public expenditure.
The aim of the Communication is to present a set of policy tools to address demographic challenges and the impact of the EU’s ageing population on the EU’s society, economy and competitiveness. The toolbox is a good paper including an inventory of what can be done at EU level, even if most instruments are at national level.
It is structured around four pillars:
- Better reconciliation of work and family;
- Enabling young people to realise their potential;
- Supporting active and healthy ageing;
- Attracting and integrating talents from the outside.
The policy examples and tools mentioned in the Communication partly bring out, among other things, the importance of a life-course approach to the demographic challenge.
Such an approach also forms the basis of the policy recommendations formulated by the High-level Group on the Future of social protection and of the welfare state in the EU to face today’s megatrends, including the demographic transition.
Measures targeting the different life stages are crucial to address the impact of population ageing on our human capital and competitiveness as well as on the sustainability and adequacy of welfare and social protection systems.
We welcome the call for a comprehensive strategy with a life-course perspective to address demographic change ensuring inter-generational solidarity and that no one is left behind.
However, there is still the matter of the choice of indicators, that could be improved. In particular, the confusion between demographic ratios and economic dependency ratios had already been stressed by the ETUC in the position in reply to the public consultation on Green Paper on Ageing in 2021.
In this context, reaching the EPSR 78% employment target within the 20-64 age-group would also be of utmost importance to counter the negative effects of deterioration of the old-age dependency ratio. However, the potential to improve labour market integration with quality jobs and reducing the number of people needing income replacement benefits is often neglected because the old-age to working age ratio is taken into consideration, rather than the economic dependency ratio, defined as the unemployed and pensioners as a percentage of the employed. (See the SociALL expert study: EPSR 2030 Scenario – What would it mean for pensions if the Action Plan’s 78% employment target was achieved, with quality jobs).
EU 27 – Development of ‘dependency’ ratios (EPSR 2030 Scenario / Ageing Report
Development of ‘dependency’ ratios – old-age to working-age ratio/economic old-age dependency ratio/economic dependency ra9o (EU 27)
