More than 500 delegates attended the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Regional Ministerial Conference
on Ageing, organized in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs,
Senior Citizens, Women and Youth of Germany. The Conference started its work in
Berlin on Wednesday, 11 September 2002.
In her opening statement Mrs. Brigita
Schmögnerová, UNECE Executive Secretary stressed that: "Ageing
is perceived as one but most important aspect of the complex demographic changes.
These changes pose far-reaching challenges to our societies, but also offer many
opportunities. The challenge is for society as a whole to adapt to the changes."
Dr.
Christine Bergmann, Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women
and Youth of Germany and chairperson of the Conference emphasized that demographic
changes which are occurring in the UNECE region, in particular the rise in longevity,
lead to profound structural changes which need to be addressed. "We need
a sound basis for our cooperation and a policy that fully mainstreams this change.
Only through this approach can we help to create a society in which all generations
take an equal part and are completely integrated."
Five months after
the adoption by the United Nations of the Madrid International Plan of Action
on Ageing 2002, the UNECE member States will adopt during the Conference a Regional
Implementation Strategy and a Ministerial Declaration.
During the course
of the first day a panel discussion was organized around the theme: "Demographic
change and the labour market: What are the challenges we are facing?".
The
panel was chaired by the Vice-Chairperson of the Conference Ed Sontag, Assistant
Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and moderated
by Gerhard Naegele, Professor at the University of Dortmund. The panellists were:
Friedrich Buttler of the International Labour Organization, Luigina De Santis
of the European Trade Union Confederation, Eveline Hönigsperger of the Federal
Ministry for Social Security and Generations in Austria, John Murray of the Council
of Europe, John Rother of the American Association for Retired Persons (AARP)
and Herwig Schlögl of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
During
the discussion it was mentioned that population ageing, the rising cost of public
pensions, and the slowing labour force growth underscore the desirability and
even the necessity of fostering longer working lives. For much of the last half
century, the average work life has been shrinking as young people pursuing education
have postponed entry into the labour force and growing numbers of older persons
have left it well before statutory pensionable age. In many countries work after
65 has become the exception, in fact fewer than 5% of persons aged 65 and older
remain in the labour force. Participation rates tend to be well below 50% for
persons in their mid-50s to mid-60s. As life expectancy has risen, the effective
retirement age has fallen, with the result that twenty-plus years in retirement
is not uncommon.
It was further stressed that the current social security
systems might not be sustainable in the long run, taking into account the increase
in longevity and the decreasing participation rates. It was therefore felt to
be important to encourage people to remain in active life longer than is currently
the case. Among the various measures used to this effect, certain participants
did not find appropriate subsidies for the hiring of the elderly. They felt that
it would introduce a bias in the labour market and would not be efficient. However,
many participants felt that on the contrary the early retirement schemes, which
are in many cases a hidden subsidy, should be amended as they encourage workers
to leave the labour market earlier. Panellists also mentioned that there was no
firm evidence that older workers were more "costly" for enterprises
than younger ones and that early retirement was creating job opportunities for
new people entering the labour market. Furthermore it was felt the participation
of the elderly in voluntary activities should be encouraged.
During the
second day a panel was organized on "Demographic change - opportunities and
limitations of intergenerational solidarity". This panel was chaired by Vlado
Dimovski, Minister of Labour, Family and Social Affairs of Slovenia and vice-chairperson
of the Conference. The panel was moderated by Dr. Ursula Staudinger, Professor
at the University of Dresden. The panellists were Anna Diamantopoulou from the
European Commission, Mateja Kozuh-Novak from Slovene Philanthropy, Alexandre Kalache
from the World Health Organization, Akut Toros, from Hacettepe University in Ankara,
Turkey, and Frank Vandenbroucke, Federal Minister for Social Issues and Pensions
of Belgium.
Panellists emphasized that intergenerational solidarity is
not only a problem of sustainable pension schemes. It concerns also employment,
training, health, housing, equal rights, conditions for family formation and many
other areas.
It was mentioned that intergenerational solidarity had changed
in essence during the last century, while the extended family might have been
a solution to ageing care when the elderly represented 2 to 3% of the population,
it had become a different matter with an ageing population of 15, 20 or even 33%
in some countries. The extended family structure, which was far from perfect and
generated a lot of tensions, now has to be replaced by new and innovative social
and cultural approaches.
The participation of the elderly in political life
was also mentioned. While there had in certain countries been measures to discourage
older citizens from participating in their national political life, the average
age of parliamentarians was 58 years. Despite this average ageing, the problem
was very low on the agenda of political parties and governments. It was stressed
that a real risk existed that the ageing problem might become an acute problem
in the coming years if decision makers were to ignore it.
The situation
in transition countries was also mentioned. After the collapse of the communist
system, many governments had used early retirement in order to fight unemployment.
This policy had not only generated a great number of poor people, which has a
dramatic impact on the social security systems of these countries as well as on
families, but also deprived these same countries of an experienced and qualified
labour force which some of them are lacking. Current policies are trying to reverse
this trend.
It was further mentioned that ageing should not be looked upon
as a financial issue with social constraints, but as a social issue with financial
constraints, whereby common social ambitions are defined. In this context the
Berlin Regional Implementation Strategy could constitute a cornerstone for future
national ageing policies.
The meeting pursued its deliberations with presentations
made by Ministers and other leading decision makers on the situation and policies
related to ageing in their respective countries.
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