The population of the European Community will fall by 2% by the year 2025. Between 1960 and 1990, it grew by 17%. This contrast reflects the dramatic growth of the population of pensioners in the total population, and also the rapid ageing of the Community's working population. In this volume, based on a CEPR conference held in Munich in April 1992, leading economists in the field assess demographic and labour market developments in Western and Eastern Europe. They compare them with developments in the USA and Japan, and assess the effects of ageing on European productivity, earnings and human capital formation. Policies to improve the quantity and quality of the labour force are considered, including incentives for female labour participation, selective immigration policies, 'pronatalist' family policies, and improved human capital formation.

Aunque el envejecimiento de la población sea hoy ya en sí mismo un tema de interés para cualquier país y la comparación de las políticas públicas dirigidas a afrontarlo la forma más elemental y siempre fructífera de abordarlo, el estudio específico de los casos japonés y español (y, por extensión, europea) de sus elementos comunes y sus diferencias, tuvo, tiene y tendrá un especial interés para los investigadores, las autoridades y los actores sociales implicados en el problema. Envejecimiento de la población en España y Japón: estudio comparativo y posibles implicaciones para Europa y Asia Pacífico surge a partir de la celebración entre el 13 y el 17 de octubre de 2008 de un simposium, en el centro cultural Hispano-Japonés de la Universidad de Salamanca, con la participación de profesores de Europa y de Japón. El éxito de este seminario determinó la voluntad de plasmar en un libro las aportaciones más interesantes de cada uno de los brillantes investigadores que allí participaron.

This book is about older women’s strength, freedom, tenacity, determination, resilience, independence, social and political involvement and, in particular, it is about re-imagining ageing. Older women represent the great majority of older people. The book describes instances of age and gender discrimination and examples of social inclusion and protagonism of older women in Europe. It solicits a change in perspective, focusing on the necessary societal changes to make space to older people and older women in particular. How is society going to address age and gender discrimination in social and institutional settings? How should work settings change to effectively make space to older workers and in particular older women? How should the pension system change? How could public health systems could provide effective care to older people and be sustainable? This edited collection focuses on older women’s rights rather than their needs, adopting a human rights based approach. Preservation of older women’s dignity, autonomy and security is its central topic, that is, ensuring that their rights are recognised. This collection offers insights valuable to a wide array of human rights activists, professionals, policymakers and social scientists, and older women themselves.

This book explores the adoption of 'active ageing' policies by EU15 nations and the impact on older peoples' work and retirement policy options. Policies examined include unemployment benefits, active labour market policies, partial pension receipt, pension principles, early retirement and incentives for deferral.

The authors propose a holistic look at the problem of population ageing and global and regional effort to improve the quality of seniors’ life and their families through the integration of healthcare, social care, and senior-friendly environment. They also concentrate on the senior policy of the European Union and the concept of care farming against the backdrop of social farming. Finally, they present the results of the two largest studies under the GROWID project. They investigated older people’s needs against the background of the social services provided by care farms.

In this volume, a group of distinguished economists, political scientists, and sociologists analyzes the political economy of European integration. The authors evaluate recent developments of European politics and institutions. They consider the current situation, and assess prospects for the future of an Integrated Europe. This book will be of great interest to observers, scholars, and students of European economic and political affairs, macroeconomic policy, institutional analysis, and comparative and international political economy. The book is unique in combining perspectives from economics and political science and provides in-depth analysis of the new European institutions. It is published in conjunction with "Monetary and Fiscal Policy in an Integrated Europe" by the same editors.

This book explores the challenges population decline presents for Europe’s urban and rural areas. It features recent demographic data and trends not only for Europe as a whole, but also for selected countries, and compares growth and shrinkage from a historical as well as a theoretical perspective. In addition, the book critically reviews relevant notions from geography, sociology, and public administration. It also identifies good practices across Europe. Throughout, theories are complemented with concrete examples and proposals are made on how to tackle demographic shrinkage in European cities and villages, from attempts to attract new residents to the countryside to innovative ways to guarantee public services. In the end, the authors conclude that solving the challenges caused by population decline require novel ways of thinking and provide answers to such future-oriented questions as: how to ensure the quality of life in an environment that is inhabited by fewer and older people, what investments are needed, and which actors should be involved. Managing Population Decline in Europe’s Urban and Rural Areas offers detailed coverage of an underestimated and complex governance issue that asks for solutions in which citizens have to play an important role. It concludes that shrinkage requires a rethink of the specific tasks and roles of government and presents a way forward based on initiatives currently underway throughout Europe. The book will be a valuable resource for population policy makers as well as students and researchers interested in human geography, urban planning, rural development, European studies, public administration, and other social sciences.

Between longer life expectancies and declining birth rates, Europe’s elder population is growing into a sizable minority with considerable impact on nations, health systems, and economies—in other words, global implications as well as local and regional ones. Those investing in the health of older adults need a double perspective: the social and clinical complexity of aging and the larger forces shaping these experiences. Aging in European Societies examines aging trends across the continent, analyzing individual and collective variables that affect the lives of older adults, and drawing salient comparisons with other parts of the world. An interdisciplinary panel of experts provides theory, research, and empirical findings (with examples from the UK, Cyprus, Sweden, and others) in key areas such as family and social supports, physical and cognitive changes, dependence and autonomy issues, and living arrangements. The book’s wide-net approach offers insights into not only aging, but aging well. And of particular importance, it details approaches to defining and measuring the elusive but crucial concept, quality of life. Included in the coverage: The potential for technology to improve elders’ quality of life. Dementia and quality of life issues. Changes in functional ability with aging and over time. Family networks and supports in older age. Factors influencing inequalities in quality of life. Late-life learning in the E.U. Gerontologists, sociologists, health and cross-cultural psychologists, and public health policymakers will welcome Aging in European Societies as a springboard toward continued discussion, new directions for research, and improvements in policy and practice.

Providing an overview of the process of e-inclusion for older people and addressing the ethical, social and legal aspects of the process, this book is suitable for researchers, policy-makers, organisations and companies, as well as for those with an interest in the identification and promotion of good practice within an ageing society.

Offers insights into the way in which social policies and welfare state arrangements interact with family and gender models. This title presents the research in the field, based on a variety of national and comparative sources and using different theoretical and methodological approaches.