In the demographic transition, how can Europe ensure it has enough essential workers (care, infrastructure) in coming decades? This question was discussed in an international meeting by the EU-funded FutuRes Policy Lab. More than 200 participants joined online from policy, research, international organisations, civil society and business, on March 11.
The FutuRes research experts gave insight into their latest findings in four areas: automation/labour markets, families, equality in older age, and institutional resilience.
“People will have to work longer”, said Prof. Arnstein Aassve, demographer and Head of FutuRes. “This is a given, however, it begs the question: what makes working longer easier?” Prof. Aassve is a specialist in crisis resilience, which is the main theme of FutuRes: How to help people cope and overcome societal shocks.
Building blocks for this were presented by Prof. Jakub Bijak (Southampton University), Prof. Agnieszka Professor Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak (Warsaw School of Economics), and Dr. Miguel Sánchez-Romero (TU Vienna). They stressed the need to develop policies which
- make the digital labour market inclusive and accessible
- provide quality of life to families to make them resilient
- make pension systems sustainable while avoiding further inequalities
- transform institutions from robust to resilient
A keynote was given by Prof. Pearl Dykstra, former Deputy Chair of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the Cabinet of European Commissioners.
Read more about the event here