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The COVID-19 epidemic caused an increase in excess deaths worldwide, most of which were in the elderly. This study aims to identify the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on reducing the intensity of change in population aging between 2020 and 2022 in selected European countries. Time-series analysis methods with trend and seasonality are used to estimate excess deaths. The study found that of the nearly 1.5 million excess deaths observed between 2020 and 2022 in the 28 European countries analyzed, almost 93% of these were in people aged 60 years and older. The results of the study indicate that in some countries (mainly central and eastern Europe), the scale of deaths due to the COVID-19 epidemic was large enough to clearly inhibit the aging dynamics of their populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This study investigates the contribution of educational expansion to changes in labour force participation among Europeans aged 55-74 between 2000 and 2019, while accounting for changes in educational inequalities in labour market activity. We use data from the European Union Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS) for 26 countries and Kitagawa-Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition methods to analyse the extent to which changes in the education structure may account for rises in labour force participation rates among older workers in these countries, and the degree to which returns to education have changed. Overall, we found that educational expansion is positively associated with increases in labour force participation, albeit with substantial cross-country variation in the scale of this association. A driving factor was the decrease in the share of the population with low education levels, followed by an increase in the share of those with high education levels. While activity rates rose in most countries and among all levels of education, the largest increases were observed among people with a medium level of education. Activity rates of low-educated older workers, especially women, grew at a substantially lower pace in some countries, exacerbating educational inequalities in labour force participation at older ages. The study suggests that educational expansion has been a driver of longer working lives in Europe. However, it also indicates that changes in health, working conditions and age norms at the microlevel, as well as pension and labour market reforms at the macrolevel, can be assumed to have played a dominant role in countries where increases in labour force participation were the most significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Our objective was to assess morbidity trends in Europe and to classify European countries based on population ageing theories: the compression, expansion and dynamic equilibrium of morbidity., Methods: The proportions of healthy life years were calculated for 31 European countries for the period 2005-2019 based on life expectancy values and healthy life years at age 65 years adopted from the Eurostat database. European countries were classified according to morbidity patterns applying the standard deviation distance from the average of relative change method between the selected years., Results: A large degree of variation in terms of life expectancy and healthy life years at age 65 years was determined between 2005 and 2019. While the life expectancy differences between men and women were consistent across all the European countries, the gender gap concerning healthy life years was more diverse. Approximately one-third of the countries fell into the expansion, compression and dynamic equilibrium categories, respectively., Conclusion: Significant variations were identified in healthy life year trends across European countries, which underscores the need for preventive strategies., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they do not have any conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Straka, Šídlo and Kulhánová.)

Since young adults tend to move from rural to urban regions, whereas older adults move from urban to rural regions, we may expect to see increasing differences in population ageing across urban and rural regions. This paper examines whether trends in population ageing across urban and rural NUTS-2 regions of the EU-27 have diverged over the period 2003–13. We use the methodological approach of convergence analysis, quite recently brought to demography from the field of economic research. Unlike classical beta and sigma approaches to convergence, we focus not on any single summary statistic of convergence, but rather analyse the whole cumulative distribution of regions. Such an approach helps to identify which specific group of regions is responsible for the major changes. Our results suggest that, despite expectations, there was no divergence in age structures between urban and rural regions; rather, divergence happened within each of the groups of regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ageing is going to be greater and greater in the forthcoming decades. At the same time, old-aged dependency and longevity occur due to rising life expectancy at birth. Our study aims to examine the effect of population ageing on private savings. A panel data of a sample of selected European countries collected from the World Bank (WB, 2016) – World Development Indicators (WDI) database is used, in order to analyze possible heterogeneity across and multiple subsamples. The span period is 1990–2013. Besides, economic growth and crisis provide empirical support. Our findings show that longevity and dependency rates have both significant impacts on savings. However, the results are influenced by the way in which the data is managed. Therefore, this calls into question the practice of applying for a reform in the government's old-age support programs. Besides, the paper makes a good contribution to knowledge: firstly, it is innovative since it puts together demographic and economic variables among a selected group of developed countries; secondly, it uses a very up-to-dated database; and thirdly, it fills a gap in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European regions experience accelerating ageing, but the process has substantial regional variation. This paper examines the effect of this variation on regional economic cohesion in Europe. We measure the effect of convergence or divergence in the share of the working age population on convergence or divergence in economies of NUTS 2 regions. The effect of convergence or divergence in ageing on economic convergence or divergence is quite substantial and, in some cases, is bigger than the effect of changes in productivity and labour force participation. Convergence of ageing leads to economic convergence only when the share of the working age population in rich regions exceeds that in poor regions and the former regions experience a substantial decline in the share of the working age population, or the latter regions experience an increase. During 2003–12, an inverse relationship between convergence in ageing and economic convergence was the rule rather than the exception. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For centuries, important geopolitical, social-economic or scientific factors have contributed to the progress of European societies. An important effect of this progress was the improvement of the perspectives and the demographic context. The positive evolution of important demographic indicators, including population growth, urbanization, decreased mortality (including infant mortality), increased life expectancy, population mobility, etc. have contributed to Europe's success worldwide. Europe proved to be an important demographic source that allowed for the golden era of colonialism when the Christian-European civilization spread across the globe. However, the trends have changed in the meantime. If during the period of sharp increase in the birth rate in the years after the Second World War, the European population reached up to 22.8% of the world's population, Europe subsequently experienced a reduction down to zero of the population growth. Today, the European population represents only 9.6% of the world's population. In the current geopolitical and economic context, this tendency of population decline is an important demographic vulnerability of the European space, and particularly of the European Union. The internal market, European affairs, but also social services are affected by this evolution of the population. Methodologically, without analysing the full range of demographic vulnerabilities that the European Union is facing, we intend to monitor the main demographic indicators that refer to the age group structure of the population of the 28 EU Member States. This paper aims to capture the phenomenon of population ageing in Europe, with its various regional peculiarities. To carry out this analysis we propose to use the data provided by Eurostat for the past 10 years. As the phenomenon of population ageing has different causes and different degrees of expression in the Western states compared to the Eastern ones, we intend to highlight the trends recorded from this regional perspective throughout this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demographic analysis is on the basis of every city plan. It is often regarded as a technical and indisputable tool to inform policy making. In a strongly contested political environment, information on population is crucial to set priorities and define goals. However, the frequently misinterpretation, or overinterpretation, of demographic information, might also support inadequate public policy design. The increased interest on ageing in the urban context has already resulted in various initiatives all-over the world. The idea of an unsustainable “elderly boom” is a powerful narrative that is frequently used to argue for the need of improved policies for older persons. The article argues that city planners and urbanists inadequate use of demographic assessment of ageing might generate policies that can ultimately work against the interests of the older persons. I use the city of Oslo as an example of the varieties of approaches that can be used to assess ageing on a specific population. Contrary to the general assumption that Oslo will face an “elderly boom”, the study shows that the city’s ageing process today is less intense than the observed in the past. A particular attention is paid to the varieties of demographic trends observed within Oslo’s different scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The group of individuals aged 80 and over is growing faster than other segments of the population, and within this group the number of centenarians has risen exponentially worldwide. This paper reports the numbers of centenarians (total, and ratio relative to total population) in 32 European countries and their key characteristics: gender distribution, level of education, and type of residence.Study Design: Population based study.Measures: We used national census data collected in 2011 for individuals aged 100 and over living in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Data on gender, residence and education were used.Results: The total number of centenarians was 89156, corresponding to 17.3 centenarians per 100000 inhabitants of the total population and 98.0 centenarians per 100000 individuals aged 65 and older. Centenarian ratios were highest in France, Italy and Greece, and lowest in Bulgaria, Romania, and Croatia. The percentage of men was 16.5% on average, and ranged from around 13% (Germany, Latvia, Belgium) to 37% (Hungary). Across Europe, 62.7% of the centenarians lived in private households, with a range from 10.9% (Iceland) to 90.0% (Romania). Education levels varied across countries, with an average of 13.6% having no formal education, ranging from 0.0% (the UK, Finland, Iceland) to 61.6% (Portugal).Conclusions: Centenarian numbers have increased substantially since last available data. The findings will inform specific health promotion policies, the strengthening of current services and the development of innovative care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In the coming years, the share of the working-age population in the total population will start to decline in all countries of the European Union. All other things remaining equal, this so-called demographic burden will have a downward effect on economic growth. This paper examines whether the Europe 2020 employment targets would be sufficient to compensate for the downward impact of demographic burden and whether the impact of demography on economic growth differs between EU countries and between urban and rural regions. The results show that raising employment rates to the Europe 2020 targets can restore positive opportunities for economic growth, but not in all countries and only to a limited extent. They also show that even though urban and rural regions differ in terms of population growth and growth of the working age population, the prospects for demographic burden are highly similar for both types of regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Age structure is one of the most important demographic characteristics of the population, which is multicausally related to almost all population processes. On one hand, age structure is the complex result of processes such as fertility, mortality, immigration and emigration. At the same time, it substantially affects a number of socio-demographic phenomena such as marriage, divorce, migration, potential labour resources etc. Certain relationships between the age structure and other population characteristics, such as ethnic, educational, sex, economic or religious structure can also be observed. The demographic behaviour of the European population in the second half of the 20th and the beginning of the 21st century is characterised by significant changes. They are reflected in a number of population processes and indicies, which are typically interconnected and interrelated. These changes have been most strikingly manifested in a drop of fertility rates, changes in family behaviour, and shifts in the age structure of the population. The main aim of this paper is to analyse the time-space development of the age structure of the European population. The period of investigation is 1950-2010 which is extended by a projected development until 2060. Changes in age structure are analysed through several indicators such as coefficients of inflow, outflow and exchange, as well as with indices of economic and social support. Authors make also efforts to provide a complex assessment on population ageing. Using the method of standardised variable, 11 indicators of age structures for 39 European countries are used in the synthesis. In view of the londer time span, several types of age structures are pointed out in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The problem of ensuring the access of the elderly to healthcare has lately become increasingly important. The accessibility of affordable healthcare for the elderly largely depends on the design and performance of the healthcare system, the level of overall social protection that elderly people can enjoy, as well as on the availability of legislative guarantees and the opportunity to use them. Those drivers, alongside with the prospects of the European health system developments and their potential implications on the access of elderly people to affordable healthcare are discussed in this article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on several demographic and socio-economic idiosyncrasies in Central and Eastern Europe, which impact the process of population ageing and intergenerational relations. These include the adverse mortality trends and especially the excess male mortality in certain countries, which exacerbated sex differences in life expectancy beyond anything ever recorded in peace-time population history, the combination of natural population decrease and net emigration, the disordered cohort flows and the shorter generational length. The rapid demographic change in these countries coincided with political, economic and social transformations. The shock of the fall of communism affected differently younger people, who could relatively easily reorganize their life cycles so as to adapt to the changed circumstances, and older persons for whom such reorganization was more difficult, or even impossible. This created the possibility for the opening of an intergenerational rift, as older generations felt being the losers of the transition. The article explores the implications of these idiosyncrasies and social context for living arrangements, kin networks, individual wellbeing and inter-generational relations, and identifies areas where particular challenges are likely to be faced when it comes to policies and programs aimed at older persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two demographic challenges confront Europe today: population ageing and population decline. These challenges are two sides of the same demographic coin. While low fertility and increasing longevity cause populations to rapidly grow older, low fertility also leads to population decline. This paper describes recent and expected changes in the size and composition of the European population and the underlying demographic trends in fertility, mortality and migration. Although international migration is now the major cause of European population growth, it is questionable whether migration can prevent population decline. International migration spurs population diversity in different ways across Europe and is the most volatile demographic phenomenon as it depends on both push and pull factors that are difficult to manage. From a demographic perspective the challenges of international migration for citizenship, both from intra-European migration and more particularly from migration from outside Europe, are likely to increase in the near future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the beginning of the 3rd millennium the low rates of natural increase in population arise as problems to be solved only in European countries. However, there are differences within our continent in this respect: while stagnating rates have been produced by the west European countries since the 1980s, the Eastern States have suffered spectacular decrease in the population since the crisis and disorganization of the East Block. The low birth rates being peculiar for two decades foreshadow the deepening of the problem as it is accompanied by the process of aging. Bulgaria is similar to the other post-communist countries in respect of demographic features; however, it rises above the other European countries regarding the natural decrease in population. This problem in itself lies as a serious burden on the Bulgarian society; however, there are ethnical and religious differences beyond the existential reasons. This paper aims to examine the reasons for decrease in population, aging and its territorial appearance as well as to describe the ethnic background of this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International migration is now the dominant factor determining the size, rate of change, and composition of most European countries. Migration is driving quite rapid population growth in some northwestern countries, slowing or arresting decline in the South, accelerating decline in the East. Migration is difficult to analyse: the process is complex, the data poor, and the theory unsatisfactory. Its many factors include unpredictable policy change. But some conclusions can be reached. While immigration usually reduces the average age of the recipient populations, it cannot 'solve' population ageing except through very high and exponentially increasing inflows. Already it is changing the face of European countries. According to available projections, the proportion of the population of foreign origin in some European countries will increase from 5-15 per cent of the total today, to 15-30 per cent by mid-century. Such projections depend primarily on the assumptions about the level of international migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Journal of Population is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article summarizes key priorities of European research in the field of ageing both at individual and population levels and reviews the process of preparation of the "road map" for European ageing research under the FuturAge project. The project focused on four key priority themes: 1. Biogerontology, 2. Social and economic resources, 3, Environments of ageing and 4 Healthy ageing Besides recognized experts from academia, professionals and representatives from practice, public administration, civil society, and the private sector participated in the consultation process on priorities for the Road Map [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]