A Comprehensive Look at Ageing, Migration, Gender and Employment

According to the latest European Commission Staff Working Document the European Union with its 500 million-plus citizens is not only growing older, but is becoming a lot more diverse at the same time. The paper states that the EU-27 member states are home to 20 million non-EU nationals, while there are also 10 million EU-nationals living abroad in other member states. Additionaly, since 2001, approximately 5 million people have acquired an EU citizenship. The report predicts the further diversification of the EU workforce with the number of employees with a socalled migration background rising further in coming years. 50 years from now, people with at least one foreign-born parent will account for about one third of the population of the EU-27 states and their percentage will be even higher in the workforce. Mobility within the EU will also continue to grow, the latest Eurobarometer survey shows, pointing out a young and mobile population that is thinking and moving beyond its national borders. 53 percent of Europe’s youth are willing or even keen to work abroad; financial restrictions, however, sometimes deny those opportunities.

The educational level of foreign-born immigrants varies significantly among EU states. Greece, France, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Spain attract immigrants of lower education, whereas more than 40 percent of the immigrants in Bulgaria, Estonia, Ireland, Luxembourg and Poland have attained a higher education degree. “Good talent comes in increasingly different shapes,” says Diversity expert Michael Stuber, “and companies must be willing and able to tap into this potential which will also help them relate to the ever diverse customer base”. In fact, the population of the EU will also continue to grow even older compared to earlier predictions, with the 65+ age group accounting for 30 percent of the population by 2040. With these long-term trends in mind, next year’s European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations (EY2012) will be an opportunity to analyse current policies dealing with Europe’s future demographic challenges. This very item was on the agenda of this year’s 3rd EU Day of Solidarity between Generations (April 29) where citizens’ groups, social actors, and EU-level business representatives presented their recommendations on how to create a society where people of an older age (can) remain active at work and in the community. It was felt that the objective should not only be to master the challenge posed by an ageing society but to turn it into an opportunity. The current policy framework is contained in a leaflet compiled by the participants in the discussion and can be dowloaded from the Age Platform Europe’s website (http://www.age-platform.eu/images/stories/EN/ey2012_joint_leaflet-en.pdf).

Active ageing will also include challenges around gender and women’s empowerment. As pointed out by the European Women’s Lobby (EWL), the rate of unemployment by age groups rises much faster for women than for men. In EU countries, only 45 percent of women in the 55 to 64 years age group are employed, while male employment is almost twenty percent higher in that segment (63 percent). This, combined with the fact that according to the European Commission women in the EU earn on average 17.5 percent less than men, leads to smaller pensions and greater risk of poverty for women. Currently 22 percent of European women over 65 years live in poverty, compared to 16 percent for men. Hence, Europe-wide active ageing policy will have to pay specific attention to female issues as well.

According to the latest OECD Economic Outlook dealing with unemployment, active ageing is becoming an increasing necessity among older workers. Governments in many OECD countries that have not encouraged the premature withdrawal of older workers, closing many benefit routes to early retirement. Combined with the significant losses of some private pension funds in several countries this may well result in many older workers having to extend their active employment to keep up prospective incomes.

Overall, ageing and the pro-active management of generational diversity presents a key issue for Diversity practitioners which must be included in the already complex framework of existing priorities and approaches.