As the baby boomer generation retires, European pension systems are facing a crisis. Countries such as Germany and France have responded by raising the age of retirement. This expectation to work until an older age has been met with frustration by many, and outright anger by some.
But is “How long should we work?” even the right question? What if the question was “How can we work better now?”
Surveys show that while most people express a preference for earlier retirement, many would concede to working longer if their working lives improved in quality, for example, if given more time for rest, more meaningful tasks, or more adequate pay. Could the quality of work be the key to improving the resilience of labour markets? If so, what are the factors that must be improved? What futures can be imagined?
Our discussants were Beatrice Covassi, Member of the European Parliament, Jutta Allmendinger, president of the WZB Berlin Social Science Center and expert of Working Lives, Massimiliano Mascherini, head of the Social Policies unit at EuroFound, Arnstein Aassve, FutuRes research coordinator at Bocconi University, Milan, and Ulrich Becker, Director of the Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Munich, co-author of the “Pension Atlas”.
This was the first event of the FutuRes Policy Lab, in which eminent experts and decision-makers from research, politics, business and civil society discuss solutions for resilience-enhancing policies – driven by research evidence, practitioner experience and citizens’ perspectives.
You can read about the outcomes of the discussion in our event summary here: https://population-europe.eu/events/event-reviews-recordings/societal-resilience-way-forward