FRANCE The

pensions retracted to normal levels (i.e. around 15% of all new
pensions in 2000, against 30% in 1989).
Along with disability and health problems, unemployment may
constitute another pathway leading to effective retirement and
eventual withdrawal from the labour market. According to Table 2,
once unemployed, the chances of finding another job, diminish with
age. In 1998, only 15,10% of men aged 50-54, unemployed a year
before, had found a job in the succeeding year, compared with
24.52% which is the estimated average for all age cohorts (15+).
Of the remaining population, some 78.80% remained unemployed
and 6.10% passed into inactivity. The proportion of the
unemployed, one year before drifting into inactivity in the
succeeding year, increases with age. For men, it rises from just under
10% for the 55-59 age group, to 14.03% for the 60-64 age cohort.
Similarly, the equivalent proportion for women rises from 2.49% for
the 50-54 age group to 10.28% in the next age group and, finally, to
19.25% for those in the last age bracket (60-64 years of age).
In relation to the scale of the demographic ageing problem, very
little has been done so far to address the issue. Most of the training
and employment programmes benefiting older workers are designed
to benefit a broader age group (45-64 years of age). This is the case
of the integrated programmes for unemployed persons, which
include actions for pre-training, vocational training, job-search
assistance and accompanying support services (NAP 2002). Older
workers can also benefit from the various in-house training schemes
offered to workers of private firms. The only scheme currently in
operation, targeting older workers exclusively, is a wage subsidy
scheme financed by the Social Partners Fund, LAEK (Account for
Employment and Vocational Training). Under this scheme,
enterprises of the private and the broader public sector are
subsidised, in order to employ unemployed persons who are close to
retirement age (i.e., five years short of retirement). The period of
subsidy ranges from 1 to 60 months and the amount of subsidy for
each day of full employment is 17.61 euro for the first 24 months
and 20.54 euro for the next 36 months. For part-timers, the subsidy
is set at 10.27 euro and 11.74 euro, accordingly. It should be noted
that none of the above measures has been evaluated recently and
hence their impact upon older workers employment rates remain to
a large extent, unknown.
The reasons behind the apparent lack of interest on problems
associated with ageing may be attributed to the existence of ample
possibilities for early retirement and also to the low unemployment
rate facing older workers. Early retirement by large numbers has
prevented the problem of an ageing workforce from coming to the
forefront. Besides, partly because of the high compensation
requirements for salaried employees with many years of service,
dismissal of older workers is not as frequent as in other EU Member
States, a fact contributing to low unemployment rates among older
workers12 .
4. Concluding remarks
Demographic ageing, due to a fall in fertility and a fall in mortality,
appears to affect Greece to a larger extent than most other EU
Member States. Taking 2000 as a base year, the old-age dependency
ratio (i.e. population aged 65 and over as a percentage of the
working-age population, 15-64) is estimated at 25.6 and is projected
to climb to 29.2 by 2010. In comparison, the equivalent estimates for
EU-15 are 24 and 27, respectively. Greece is one of the three
Member States (the others being Italy and Germany), which are
12 See: Trends, No 33, Winter 1999.
Spring 2003 | European Employment Observatory Review 105
Trends
expected to have an old-age dependency ratio of almost 30% by
2010.
Rapid demographic ageing has raised concerns on the viability of
the pension system and has brought to the forefront the need to
cater for the elderly to a greater extent than in the past. Fears are
often expressed that, unless the previously pursued policy of
fostering early retirement is reversed, it will be hard to maintain
sustainability. As a policy, early retirement was popular in the 1980s
and 1990s, when it was viewed as a means of paving the way for the
younger generations. This situation resulted in great numbers of
healthy, prematurely retired workers, many of whom continued
working in the informal sector of the economy. Although, in theory,
employment of the retired workers in the formal sector of the
economy is not prohibited by law, in practice the various insurance
funds impose restrictions, severely limiting incentives to do so.
Fears and concerns about the demographic situation are commonly
acknowledged and frequently mentioned in both academic and
political discussions in Greece. Yet, at the moment, there appears to
be no consensus among the dominant socio-political actors on
appropriate political initiatives and, as a result, no concrete
measures aimed at addressing the issue have been taken so far. The
formulation and implementation of an active ageing policy is
restricted by a variety of factors, including the following:
First, an attempt to raise the participation rates of older people
makes sense only if employment opportunities exist and the net job
growth rate is substantial. Greece’s net job growth rate over the 90s,
however, was modest and this in spite of the strong output growth
rates which prevailed during the latter half of the same period. In
2001, the overall employment rate was estimated at 55.4 (one of the
lowest in EU, 14.6 percentage points below the target set at the
Lisbon Council), having grown by a mere 0.5% annually during the
last five years.
Second, without substantial net job growth, increased employment
among older workers, is bound to cause some substitution with the
young. In 1999, Greece exhibited the highest youth unemployment
rate in the EU (31.6% in comparison with 17.9% which was the
average for EU-15).
Third, the sectoral and occupational structure of older workers in
Greece imply that it is difficult to apply a uniform policy for
retaining older workers in employment. Around half of the older
workers work in agriculture, either as self employed or as unpaid
family workers. It should be borne in mind that the EU’s CAP
currently favours early retirement. Of the remaining older people
still in employment, a sizeable part works in traditional and
declining sectors (e.g. traditional manufacturing), as manual
workers and technicians in physically demanding jobs.
To counterbalance these features, prejudice and discrimination, low
employment among the elderly and weak re-employment of ageing
workers are perhaps less acute problems in the Greek context, for a
number of reasons. First, the household in Greece has retained a lot
of its traditional functions, acting as a safety net for older people.
This is manifested in the number of older people living alone, which
is smaller in Greece compared to other EU countries. Second,
Greece (together with Portugal and Ireland) exhibit the highest
employment rates for male workers aged 55 or above. The absolute
majority of males aged 55-64 years (55%) were still in employment
in Greece (1999), compared to 47% in EU-15. Third, the setting and
specific features of the labour market in Greece (notably the large
share of self-employment), favour the continuation of employment,