Fewer workers to support greater number of retirees
Published:
30 March 2003 y., Sunday
When Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld recently disparaged France and Germany as "Old Europe," maybe he was speaking demographically.
According to a new study of the European Union's 15 member nations, governments there are facing an age problem that is almost certain to get worse. European families are having fewer children, and are exacerbating the problem by delaying child-bearing.
As a result, the research team said, Europeans face higher health and welfare costs, fewer wage-earners, and an impact on national productivity. In other words, a downward spiral has begun, and soon fewer young workers will be supporting more and more old retirees.
Although their calculations predict a slight population rise over the next 15 years - the result of a "baby boom" in the 1960s - the researchers see Europe having 88 million fewer people when the year 2100 rolls around, down from about 230 million.
One of the researchers, Brian O'Neill at Brown University in Providence, R.I., said the data show "there are fewer children today than there are parents" in the European Union. "So we know the number of parents one generation in the future is going to be even smaller.
"Then there is the additional factor of delay," which accounts for about 40 percent of the expected decline, he said.
Europe has about four working-age persons for every elderly person, the researchers said. But they predict that there "will be considerably less than three" workers per retiree for most of this century, even if young families begin having children sooner.
Šaltinis:
The Sun
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
Preparations for the traditional Mexican Day of the Dead get underway in Mexico City as residents erect alters and bake bread for the deceased.
more »
In three resolutions adopted in Strasbourg on Thursday, the European Parliament restates its solidarity with O. Orlov, a member of the Russian human rights organization Memorial and winner of the 2009 EP Sakharov Prize, who is now facing trial, denounces the imprisonment of Cambodian opposition leader S. Rainsy and calls on Zimbabwe's President R. Mugabe to put an end to the threat of mass forced evictions.
more »
Marrying diligent driver behaviour, quality road infrastructure and sound vehicles for safer roads across Europe.
more »
A group of journalism students in Moscow pose semi-naked for a steamy calendar wishing Russia's prime minister a happy birthday.
more »
In the EU27 in 2008, 20% of women and 32% of men aged 25 to 34 lived with at least one of their parents.
more »
“Vertical” health funds targeting specific diseases such as AIDS, malaria or TB have achieved some success, but only at the cost of draining resources from basic “horizontal” health infrastructure such as clinics.
more »
This autumn, the 2010 European Job Days give jobseekers a chance to meet employers from all over Europe, and find out about working in other EU countries through seminars and workshops.
more »
During his visit to New York, on 27 September at the City University of New York, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs A. Ažubalis, opened a photography exhibition dedicated to the Lithuanian Jewish cultural heritage and conferred an award of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on former Executive Director of the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research.
more »
The 26th of September marks the European Day of Languages. Perhaps the Knights of the Order of St John in the Middle Ages prided themselves about the fact that they had eight “langues” but Parliament does better with its daily “Headlines” on its website in 22 languages.
more »
A proposed new plan focuses on closing the pay gap and opening up company boardrooms to more women. Tackling domestic violence is also a top priority.
more »