EUROPEAN PAPERS ON THE NEW WELFARE

Content Summary

Editorial
Orio Giarini and Angelo Scarioni

A Longer Life Cycle: Introductions

Facing Demographic Transition
Ivo Slaus

The Necessity for a Restructuring of the Welfare System
Enrico Salza

A Longer Life: Yes, but How and at What Cost? Ethical Issues
Claude Bébéar
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Document
This part of our publication presents texts which are not original. They are motivated and written under various contexts: they provide an insight on the fact that the lenghtening of the life cycle is of greater and greater concern and interest in many different directions. The counter-ageing society is an issue which needs to be perceived on the basis of a true, practical as well as theoretical, multidisciplinary approach. On the basis of this larger vision, the work, activity and research of any specialist can be better appreciated and given value within the framework of a global background of reference.

1. First Empirical Survey Reveals Large Idle Potential for Economy and Society

A recently completed research project from Leuphana University Lueneburg and The Geneva Association, ‘think tank’ of the world leading insurance companies, gives a first empirical insight into the present situation and concrete expectations of paid and voluntarily active retirees (Silver Workers) in Germany.
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1. Introduction

In recent years, especially as a result of the growing weight of China in the international economic scenario, the alarms concerning the alleged Chinese invasion of the West are multiplying: this fear is fomented, in particular, by the population consistency of the country, which has already passed 1,300 million inhabitants (in 2005) making it currently the most populated country in the world.
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Abstract

Background and aims: Previous research is not entirely consistent with regard to whether dementia caregivers are more adversely affected by their role than non dementia caregivers.
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Abstract

According to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia there were 2,019,406 people living in Slovenia at the end of June 2007. In the first half of 2007 the population of Slovenia grew by 0.4%. The population had been slowly increasing since the census of 1991 at an annual rate of about 0.2%. In 2005 this rate increased to close to 0.3% and in 2006 to close to 0.4%.
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1. Introduction

In this paper we ask what consequences on-going changes in European welfare states have for social citizenship. These changes include greater economic openness and scope for cross-border mobility, shift in governments’ role from redistribution to social regulation of markets, neoliberalism and individualisation, the growing significance of human rights and anti-discrimination and new transnational channels for citizens’ participation.
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1. Introduction

Europe is ageing and the european workforce is ageing too. Between 1950 and 2000 the percentage of people over 65 years of age in the EU25 increased from 9.1% to 15.7%. By 2025 this group will represent 22.7% of the entire population. Between 2010 and 2030 in the EU25 the EC expects a drop in the number of (Source: Demographic Green Paper of the EC of 2005):
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1. Introduction

Over the years, the European Foundation has conducted extensive research on workers at risk of exclusion. The reasons for exclusion are manifold, among them are most prominent:
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1. Introduction: The Pension Challenge

Pension systems are one of the great achievements of the welfare States in Europe in the last century and remain a key element of our social model(s) also in this century. The fact that poverty is no longer the status quo for people who stop working and that many are able to maintain their standard of living after retirement are key achievements of social protection policies.
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Working longer is an essential ingredient of the adaptation of our societies to the challenges posed by increased longevity. Working longer as a response to living longer trends is both feasible and optimal. This is because to a large extent the increase in longevity has also implied a postponement, over the life cycle, of many health impediments. Moreover, preventing those defects over the life cycle is potentially much more fruitful than reacting to them through early retirement policies or the provision of disability allowances.
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