We are now organising the eleventh Social Situation Monitor - Research Seminar on ‘Impacts of demographic change on labour market and social outcomes’, on behalf of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs, and Inclusion, which will take place on 30 May 2024. The Research Seminar will present and discuss recent and ongoing research concerning the current and likely future effects of demographic change on labour market and social outcomes in the EU.

Population ageing is a long-term trend in the EU, driven by a combination of falling fertility rates, rising longevity, and in the case of some countries and regions, migration flows. In particular, the percentage of those aged 65 and older is expected to rise by a third in the EU by 2050, from the present 21.1% to 29.0%. Simultaneously, the share of prime working-age individuals (15-64) is projected to decrease to 57.4% (-6.5pp). As a result, the old-age dependency ratio is expected to rise sharply in all Member States over the coming decades.

This demographic shift is expected to significantly impact various aspects of European economic and social life. These encompass competitiveness and productivity, the green and digital transitions, sustainability of pension and health systems, territorial cohesion, the work-life balance and the nature of work, intergenerational fairness, nutrition and well-being, education and lifelong learning, transport services, just to name a few. In this context, policies promoting longer working lives, labour market integration, particularly for women and older people, and boosting productivity, possibly through improving long-term care, are essential. 

Call for abstracts

The aim of this research seminar is to bring together the latest empirical research on the ongoing and likely future effects of demographic change on labour market and social outcomes in the EU. The EU dimension of the research should be reflected in (comparative) studies covering two or more EU countries or by demonstrating the research's relevance for EU policies. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Ways in which workplaces and social services could adapt to shifting needs
• Issues around work-life balance, continuing growth of remote work, the proliferation of part-time contracts, etc.
• Measures to encourage people to remain in the labour force longer, and the impact on the wider labour market
• Rehabilitation and activation of workers with health problems
• The economic and social impact of long-term illness Disability inclusion in the workplace
• New approaches to social planning allowing social security and healthcare systems throughout the EU to cope with rising longevity
• The effects of demographic change on pension systems
• Changing attitudes and preferences around the labour market and the welfare state
• The impact of ageing and brain drain on regional economies on the one hand, and the impact of migration inflows (be it of senior citizens or of younger immigrants) on the other
• The impact of increasing longevity on income and wealth distribution
• The impact of increasing longevity on intergenerational cohesion and the functioning of democracy

Please submit your abstract (2000 characters maximum – including research questions, methodology applied, main results) and biography (1200 characters maximum) via this link  by 15 April 2024. 

Presented analytical work should preferably be empirical and cover the EU, or be based on methodologies that could be scaled up at EU-level. The methods and data used should be briefly presented in the abstracts.

Please indicate in the abstract:

• What is the target population/geographic scope? What are the policy implications and relevance outside the geographic scope of analysis (external validity at the EU-27 level)?
• What are the empirical methods used?
• What is the underlying evidence? (e.g., survey and sample sizes, date of fieldwork/waves, administrative data and source)
• What are the results of the empirical work?

• Abstracts will be assessed based on their quality and relevance to the work of the SSM team.

The SSM Research Seminar will take place in Brussels, with face-to-face presentations by the invited speakers and the possibility for the participants to join online. The presentations will follow a blended learning approach (one speaker per paper in case of co-authored papers). During the Research Seminar, speakers will be given the opportunity to respond to questions from the audience and actively participate in the discussion with economists and analysts working in policy-making organisations and their academic peers. 

Background

The Social Situation Monitor (SSM) Research Seminars aim to provide a forum to discuss the theoretical, methodological and policy implications of the latest economic and social research. More specifically, SSM Research Seminars aim to inform:

• the economic and social analysis of the European Commission in general, and the Commission’s Employment and Social Developments in Europe (ESDE) review in particular;
• the economic and social analysis of the European Commission’s stakeholders;
• the economic and social policies of the European Commission and its stakeholders.