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Green paper on ageing: fostering solidarity and responsibility between generations
- Author:
- EUROPEAN COMMISSION
- Publisher:
- European Commission
- Publication year:
- 2021
- Pagination:
- 24
- Place of publication:
- Brussels
The purpose of this green paper is to launch a broad policy debate on ageing to discuss options on how to anticipate and respond to the challenges and opportunities it brings, notably taking into account the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and UN Decade for Healthy Ageing. The paper takes a life-cycle approach that reflects the universal impact of ageing and focuses on both the personal and wider societal implications of ageing. These include everything from lifelong learning and healthy lifestyles to how to fund adequate pensions or the need for increased productivity and a large enough workforce to sustain healthcare and long-term care for older people. The life-cycle approach takes into account the fact that the traditional stages of education and training, work and retirement are becoming less rigidly defined and more flexible. It also reflects the fact that responding to population ageing is a question of striking the right balance between sustainable solutions for our welfare system and strengthening intergenerational solidarity and fairness between both young and old. There are many interdependencies across generations that create challenges, opportunities and questions for our societies. This is why young people – and those of all ages – should play an active part in shaping our policy response. The paper discusses: healthy and active ageing; education and training in a lifelong learning perspective; bringing more people into the workforce; new opportunities and challenges in retirement; staying active; old-age poverty; adequate, fair and sustainable pension systems; meeting the growing needs of an ageing population; meeting the health and long-term care needs of an ageing population; mobility, connectivity and accessibility; territorial differences in access to care and services; and improving well-being through intergenerational solidarity. (Edited publisher abstract)
Balancing generations: on the strength and character of family norms in the West and East of Europe
- Authors:
- DAATLAND Svein Olav, HERLOFSON Katharina, LIMA Ivar A.
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 31(7), October 2011, pp.1159-1179.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This study examined the strength and character of responsibility norms between older parents and adult children. Quantitative data from the ‘Generations and Gender Survey’ were investigated to compare seven countries from Europe, namely Norway, Germany, France, Romania, Bulgaria, Russia and Georgia. Norm strength is measured as the level of support for family and parental responsibility norms. Character differences are indicated by how conditional the norms are, and how they are balanced between generations. Findings revealed that family norms were stronger towards the East and South of the Europe, with Norway and Georgia as the extreme cases. National differences were considerable for familial norms, but moderate for parental norms. Parental responsibility was relatively stronger in the North West, familial responsibility in the South East. Women were less supportive of family obligations than men. The authors concluded that where the welfare state is more developed, it has moderated the demanding character of family obligations and lead to a more independent relationship between generations.
Dementia in my family: taking an intergenerational approach to dementia
- Authors:
- HARDING Ed, et al
- Publisher:
- Alliance for Health and the Future
- Publication year:
- 2007
- Pagination:
- 27p.
- Place of publication:
- London
There are around 5.5 million Europeans with dementia. There are more new cases of dementia per year than of stroke, diabetes or breast cancer. With the ageing of the population and no cure in the foreseeable future for dementia, these numbers are bound to increase in years to come. This report helps to promote an intergenerational approach to dementia. The report begins by highlighting key facts about dementia. It then describes the role that the family plays as well as the impact of dementia on the entire family, before moving on to looking at successful initiatives across Europe in which different generations work together to lessen the burden of dementia in their communities. Finally, the book proposes ways in which communities may support all generations as they cope with dementia within their families. The report is based on a workshop held in June 2006 at the European Social Services conference in Vienna.
Financial support and practical help between older parents and their middle-aged children in Europe
- Authors:
- DEINDL Christian, BRANDT Martina
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 31(4), May 2011, pp.645-662.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This paper takes a close look at financial support and practical help between older parents and their middle-aged children across Europe. Northern and Western Europe are characterised by a high likelihood of practical help to and financial transfers from parents, while in Southern and Eastern Europe these kinds of support are much less likely. Financial transfers to parents show an almost opposite distribution, with more children supporting a parent in Southern and Eastern welfare regimes. The study draws on data from the second wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which collected information in 2006-7 in 14 European countries on transfers of help and money between middle-aged children aged 50 and over and their older parents aged 64 and over. The findings show that patterns of intergenerational support differ considerably between countries and strongly relate to social policy. Controlling for different aspects of country composition in terms of individual characteristics and family structures impacting on intergenerational support, it was found that the more services and transfers provided publicly, the more people aged 50 or more years helped their older parents sporadically, and the less monetary support they provided. On the other hand, generous public transfers enabled parents aged 64 or more years to support their offspring financially.
Intergenerational solidarity: policy challenges and societal responses
- Authors:
- ZAIDI Ashgar, GASIOR Katrin, SIDORENKO Alexandre
- Publisher:
- European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research
- Publication year:
- 2010
- Pagination:
- 12p.
- Place of publication:
- Vienna
Arguing that societies experiencing population ageing need to embrace the need for mutually beneficial and satisfying relationships between generations, this policy brief looks at the policy challenges that intergenerational solidarity presents and how societies are responding to them. It discusses what is meant by the term intergenerational solidarity within international policy frameworks, and the current status of solidarity across generations in the European Union. The authors present and analyse key results from the 2009 Flash Eurobarometer Intergenerational Solidarity survey concerning perceptions about the relations between younger and older EU citizens, perceptions on affordability of pensions and elderly care, and perceptions about the role of public authorities in promoting better understanding between young people and older people. The authors recommend that societies should continue to promote positive yet realistic images of ageing and older people, and that major stakeholders should raise awareness about the need for intergenerational solidarity.
Social inequalities in facing old-age dependency: a bi-generational perspective
- Author:
- SARACENO Chiara
- Journal article citation:
- Journal of European Social Policy, 20(1), February 2010, pp.32-44.
- Publisher:
- Sage
Population ageing implies the ageing of family and kinship networks; sometimes defined in terms of the “beanpole family” where there are few (or fewer) members in each generation. As the absolute number of the frail elderly increases, a top-heavy intergenerational chain can be expected to put stress on the middle generation as those either side compete for their support. This raises issues around financial and time resources for the middle and younger generations when frailty emerges in the older generation. The author begins by presenting a conceptual framework for the development of a bi-generational analysis of the social care package for dependent elderly and of its impact on social inequalities. She goes on to present an overview of elderly care policies in all EU countries on the basis of that framework and discusses existing knowledge about social class and cross country differences in patterns of intergenerational support. The review considers whether social inequality affects resources available to the dependent elderly and how a frail elderly person’s demands impact differently on children’s resources and life chances across gender and social classes, as well as what the impact of specific patterns of public care provision (other than healthcare) is on these inequalities.
State care provision, societal opinion and children’s care of older parents in 11 European countries
- Authors:
- HABERKERN Klaus, SZYDLIK Marc
- Journal article citation:
- Ageing and Society, 30(2), February 2010, pp.299-323.
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
This paper looks at the care of dependent older people by their children, in particular at how prevalent and variable intergenerational care is across Europe. Intergenerational care varies widely across Europe, but the prevalence has rarely been related directly to the institutional and cultural context, including state care provision, legal obligations between family members, and societal opinion about the role of the state in elderly care. This paper reports an analysis of variations in intergenerational care among European countries and the reasons for these differences using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, The Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. Results from logistic multilevel models show that care by children is influenced by the individual characteristics of both parents and children, and by family structures, welfare-state institutions and cultural norms. Intergenerational care is more prevalent in southern and central European countries, where children are legally obligated to support parents in need, and care is perceived as a responsibility of the family, whereas in northern Europe, the wider availability of formal care services enable adult children, particularly daughters, have more choice about their activities and use of time.