1. An ageing society: a success or a burden? Dr Athina Vlachantoni a.vlachantoni@soton.ac.uk Centre for Research on Ageing www.southampton.ac.uk/ageing

2. 2 Population ageing: what does it mean? i.Implications for social policy Health, care and pension provision iii.The gender implications iii.Population ageing: a success or a burden?

3. 3 Table 1: Implications for care provision What is the best solution for an elderly father or mother who lives alone and cannot manage anymore? Live with children Service visit at home Children visit at home Move to nursing home Greece49%11%38%2% Netherlands4%54%20%18% UK20%34%23%10% Sweden4%60%13%20% Portugal59%7%27%3% Source: Special Eurobarometer 283 ‘Health and Long Term Care’ June 2007

4. 4 Implications for pension provision Living longer Many more older people Claiming a pension for longer Fewer workers Not enough to pay pensions ‘Breaking’ the inter-generational contract?

5. 5 Figure 1: Male and female life expectancy at age 65 Source: European Statistics online 2005

6. 6 Figure 2: Healthy and non-healthy life expectancy at age 65 for women Source: European Statistics online 2005

7. 7 The pension problem for women Childbirth, childcare, eldercare +Interrupted employment +Part-time employment +Job segregation +Pay gap +Other forms of discrimination =Not enough pension contributions =Not enough pension income in later life =Higher poverty risk (for longer)

8. 8 Figure 3: The poverty risk of people aged 65+ by gender Source: Zaidi, A. (2007) Challenges in Guaranteeing Adequate Pension Incomes for Women. European Centre Policy Brief. Based on 2003 data from Eurostat’s New Cronos Database.

9. 9 Population ageing: a success or a burden? Ageing society Challenge to healthcare Deficit in care provision Increasing pension cost Disruption of inter- generational contract cost? opportunity? Living longer Success of civilisation and medicine More time to rest and enjoy More time to care Life-long work and skills

10. 10 The Centre for Research on Ageing Understanding the causes and consequences of ageing over the lifecourse Postgraduate programmes in Gerontology Face-to-face and Distance Learning Visit us at: www.southampton.ac.uk/ageing