FRANCE The

Trends
legalising illegal immigrants or by raising statutory retirement age
limits (restricting the amount of pensions is not considered as a
viable policy option, as pensions are rather low in Greece). Yet,
apart from entailing a higher economic cost to society, demographic
ageing has a number of serious implications, both economic and
social 3 . Changing family structures, new living arrangements and
altered relations between generations are but a few of the social
consequences stemming from the rapid change. The implications of
demographic change might be better understood by looking at
specific age cohorts, which are of particular importance for policymaking.
In this respect, the decline in the age cohort 15-24 raises the
issues of education, human resource development and labour
market policies for the young. Similarly, growth in the age cohort
50-64 raises the issue of active ageing, while the trend concerning
the age group 65 and over increases the need for social security
reforms. Finally, increased numbers of very old people (80 and over)
raise the issue of health and care policy planning and have
implications for housing services, transport and other public
infrastructures. In short, there is currently a certain lack of
awareness of the wider implications of ageing among the public in
general and among the politicians and the academics in particular 4 .
The implications of ageing which are considered in this article relate
to employment and the labour market as well as to policies aimed at
stimulating active ageing.
2. Trends and developments in the labour
market
Labour force participation rates (also known as activity rates) for
older people vary according to gender, type of area and type of
Figure 1: Labour force participation rates, both sexes, 1990—1998
60
50
40
30
20
10
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economic activity. In general, activity rates for older women are
lower than for older men and higher activity rates for both sexes are
more common in the rural areas. The lower participation rates
observed for older women are partly due to cohort effects i.e., when
these women were younger they participated less than women in
comparable are groups do at present5 . Besides, the higher activity
rates observed for rural areas are related to the predominance of
agriculture and to the lack of income options which forces many
farmers to continue working as long as possible.
According to information drawn from the Labour Force Survey
conducted by the National Statistical Service, although activity
rates decline with age, a sudden drop is not noticeable until the age
of 60 (Figure 1). However it is the 60-64 age group which shows
clearly the extent to which older people have dropped out of the
labour force. The activity rate of the 55-59 age group is very much
the same with the average rate for all age cohorts. It then drops, as
people approach retirement age (60-64 years of age), while a further
and rather abrupt drop is noticed as people become older (65-69
years of age). The activity rate declines thereafter to levels below the
10% mark. As regards changes through time, the activity rate of the
old (65+) was clearly declining throughout the greater part of the
90s. In contrast, the activity rate of the 55-64 age group shows no
declining trend, at least until 1997, remaining on the whole, constant
throughout the greater part of the 90s.
Overall activity rates mask variations according to gender: the
activity rate of the 55-59 male age group is well above the average for
all age cohorts. Moreover, it remained above the 70% mark for the
greater part of the 90s, reaching its peak on 1997, where 75% of the
entire cohort population was either employed or unemployed. A
much lower proportion of older women are in the labour force than
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1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
3 See: Auer, P. and M. Fortuny (2000): “Ageing of the Labour Force in OECD Countries: Economic and Social Consequences”, ILO Employment Paper, 2000/2.
4 For a notable exception, see: Emke-Poulopoulou, Ira (1999): Greek older citizens: Past, present and future, Ellin Editions (in Greek).
5 This trend is common in most countries. See: Samorodov, A. (1999): “Ageing and labour markets for older workers”, ILO Employment and Training Papers, No 33.
98 Spring 2003 | European Employment Observatory Review
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Total 55–59 60–64 65–69 ++ 70–74 75+
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Source: NSSG, LFS