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The Future of Ageing in Europe pp 53–77Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Achieving Economic Sustainability in Ageing Societies

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Abstract

Valkonen and Barslund provide new research results on demographic trends and their influence on national economies. This chapter emphasizes uncertainty on future demographics referring to the pessimistic projections on life expectancies, which have delayed preparations for population ageing. Correspondingly, the convergence of male and female life expectancies cannot be taken for granted. The number of elderly people living alone is, however, very likely to multiply, when baby boomers age. The results on pension policies show that raising the retirement age is an effective way of improving fiscal sustainability. In the presence of progressive unemployment benefits and disability pensions, it can also increase redistribution. Ongoing postponement of the effective retirement age weakens the relevance of summary measures of ageing, such as the old-age dependency ratio.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, Helsinki, Finland

    Tarmo Johannes Valkonen

  2. Centre for European Policy Studies, Brussels, Belgium

    Mikkel Christoffer Barslund

Authors
  1. Tarmo Johannes Valkonen
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  2. Mikkel Christoffer Barslund
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Correspondence to Tarmo Johannes Valkonen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Alan Walker

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Valkonen, T.J., Barslund, M.C. (2019). Achieving Economic Sustainability in Ageing Societies. In: Walker, A. (eds) The Future of Ageing in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1417-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-1417-9_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-13-1416-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-13-1417-9

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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