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Pensions: More Information, Less Ideology pp 137–152Cite as

Health and Social Welfare Implications of an Ageing Population: What are the Uncertainties?

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Abstract

The rapid increase in life expectancy over the last century, as well as the ‘demographic shift’, has led to concerns about dependency ratios, population trends in disability, and the impact of these on the use of health and social services. Beyond the older age profile of populations in Europe, central elements of the contemporary demographic shift in industrialised countries are changes in family formation and household structure, increasing labour force participation among women, and decreasing labour force participation among older workers (as described by Boeri, Brugiavini and Maignan in this volume). These changes appear to be resulting in significant decreases in the level of informal care, received from relatives and friends, and, coupled with an ageing and possibly more dependent population, consequent greater dependency on formal, state-funded, care — for example long term care and help at home. So, in addition to concerns over the provision of state pensions, there are major concerns about the sustainability of government funded health and social services, and the economic impact of increasing demand on these services as the population ages (Hurd 1998, Townsend 1981, Walker 1981).

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Authors
  1. James Y. Nazroo
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  2. Michael G. Marmot
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fondazione Debenedetti and University of Bocconi, Italy

    Tito Boeri

  2. University of Mannheim, Germany

    Axel Börsch-Supan

  3. University of Venice, Italy

    Agar Brugiavini

  4. University of Nottingham, UK

    Richard Disney

  5. Tilburg University, The Netherlands

    Arie Kapteyn

  6. University of Tor Vergata, Italy

    Franco Peracchi

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Nazroo, J.Y., Marmot, M.G. (2001). Health and Social Welfare Implications of an Ageing Population: What are the Uncertainties?. In: Boeri, T., Börsch-Supan, A., Brugiavini, A., Disney, R., Kapteyn, A., Peracchi, F. (eds) Pensions: More Information, Less Ideology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3363-1_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3363-1_8

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-4916-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4757-3363-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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