18 January 2022, 12:00-13:00 CET
Video:
Background:
Policy-makers worry about where to find the money to care for an ageing population. Ageing may have an impact on the size and productivity of the workforce and ultimately reduce tax revenues.
Common responses are to increase the age of retirement – both to reduce pension outlays and to maintain the share of the population in the formal labour market – and to reduce entitlements such as for health care to save money. But how much will revenues for health decline as populations age? What are the available policy options, and will these improve the sustainability of health financing? What is the impact of increasing the retirement age and how can we support an older workforce? Join us to find out!
Speakers:
Mauricio Avendano, University of Lausanne, Switzerland
Vesna-Kerstin Petrič, Ministry of Health, Slovenia
Triin Habicht WHO Barcelona Office for Health Systems Strengthening, Spain
Jon Cylus, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, London, UK
Moderators:
Charles Normand and Erica Richardson, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies
This is one of 3 webinars from the ‘Economics of Ageing Spotlight Series’, which cover covering the revenue to pay for care, expenditure on health and social care, and the politics of population ageing.
We investigate key policy questions associated with population ageing, bringing together evidence from research and country experiences. We review what is known about the health and long-term care costs of older people and consider many of the economic and societal benefits of healthy ageing.
We also explore policy options that contribute to the sustainability of care systems in the context of changing demographics, minimize avoidable health and long-term care costs, and that support older people so that they can continue to contribute meaningfully to society.
The Observatory was invited to talk about this series in WHO Europe’s podcast on 'The Economics of Ageing' - you can listen here.