Attitudes Towards Population Ageing and Older People

Abstract

The prospect of an older population composition, and more particularly the decreasing numbers of people in working age, is regarded by policy-makers and members of the research community as a threat to the sustainability of the existing welfare regimes. The fact that large proportions of citizens consider the rising number of older persons to be a worrisome evolution may be interpreted as a sign of a lack of intergenerational solidarity; apparently, the increasing numbers of older persons are rather regarded as a “menace”, and not as a positive evolution (greater longevity). Citizens’ opinions regarding the rising number of people aged 65 and more covers a broad topic. Citizens may regard the evolution as being “bad” because of its negative implications for the social security systems, such as the high costs for medical care and pension payments. Their opinion does not necessarily reflect their attitude toward older persons per se. This chapter is a mix of a “visual exploration” and of the application of a multivariate technique (GLM). The results show quite important differences between countries. Moreover, GLM estimates indicate that the most important individual characteristics are age and sex. As such, the results point to the importance of a “life course strategy” for enhancing true intergenerational solidarity.