Online Focus Group
Families and Demographic Shifts
Thursday, 20th January 2022
Organized in collaboration with
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Population ageing is rooted in declining fertility and the extension of life expectancy. In some countries and periods of time, it has also been affected (temporarily) by the net flow of international migrants. If societies and economies postpone critical measures to benefit from and adapt to ageing, present and future generations may pay high costs.
Population ageing is a global phenomenon. It is currently advanced in the more developed countries, while youthful populations are still more common in low- and lower-middle income and low-income countries, many located in Africa, and parts of Asia and the Pacific. Yet ageing is progressing in a number of developing countries at a more rapid pace than in the past, which poses particular development challenges.
Many older persons are in good health and remain productive members of the labor force. Even after they retire, they contribute to their communities and the care of grandchildren, especially when both parents work outside the home. But the progressive increase in survival to ever older ages also raises questions about who will care for the older people of tomorrow as their ability to carry out daily activities declines.
Demographic trends, including changing age structures, have significant impacts on many areas of sustainable development and the four other megatrends discussed in this report: climate change, technological innovation, inequality and urbanization.
Our Federation together with a group of transnational and regional organizations are fully involved with the Preparations of the 30th Anniversary of the International Year of the Family. We are all committed to turning the Anniversary into a substantial and enriching discussion to bring the role of the family unit and policies towards social development into reality.
In order to make our efforts more effective, we are following the lead of the United Nations Secretary General to focus on four Megatrends. So far, we have already promoted two Focus Groups on the implications of New Technologies and Families and Families and Urbanization. This time, we want to hold a third Focus Group to go through a questionnaire on Families and Demographic Shifts. The purpose of it will be to gather the view of different stakeholders in order to suggest future policy measures to be designed and improve wellbeing of all families.
As in previous editions, the opinions gathered will derive the central elements to our advocacy work on this topic. The transcription of the meeting is intended to produce a publication, and include final recommendations from the points raised by experts.
Experts
Senior Economist in the OECD Social Policy Division (Paris)
He leads a team of analysts of Family, Gender and Housing policies and is responsible for the OECD Family database; the OECD Gender Initiative and the OECD Gender Data Portal; the OECD Social Expenditure database and the OECD Affordable Housing Database.
Planning and Content Manager at the Doha International Family Institute (Qatar Foundation)
Doctoral Researcher at the Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath (United Kingdom). He has also worked for UNFPA-Arab States Regional Office, EU Program on Family and Child Rights and Egyptian Prime Minister’s Office.
Professor of Demography and Dean of the Faculty at Bocconi University (Milan)
He worked at the University of Oxford (Department of Sociology, where he also served as Head of Department) and Nuffield College (where he was a Professorial Fellow), and at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research (Head of the Independent Research Group on the Demography of Early Adulthood).
Clinical social worker, psychoanalyst, parent coach and author (New York City)
With 30 years of experience in private practice, she works to alleviate pain from individuals who suffer from depression, anxiety, eating, and other compulsive disorders.
Associate Professor of Demography at the Department of Sociology, Stockholm University
With expertise also in law and political science, comparative welfare state research and gender studies. She was the coordinator of the large-scale research project FamiliesAndSocieties in the European Union. Her main research interests include family demography in comparative perspective.
Professor at the Department of Sociology at the National University of Singapore
She chairs the Family, Children, and Youth Research Cluster in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in NUS. Professor Yeung is on the editorial boards of Demography, Journal of Marriage and Family, and Journal of Family Issues.
Moderator
Chair & Professor at the Department of Human Development & Family Sciences, University of Delaware
Her research focuses on the relationship between family change, growing family complexity and globalization in Western and non-Western contexts. She also has an interest in intergenerational relationships and workforce development for the 21st century.
Questionnaire
1. Will investing in education and health for all, including lifelong learning, help to improve productivity and maintain economic growth, even as the share of the working-age population shrinks?
2. How does promoting gender equality in employment and adopting family-friendly policies improve labor force participation and sustain higher levels of economic activity and well-being?
3. How can orderly, safe, and regular migration and mobility of people be facilitated, in order to ensure that demographic, technological and climatic reasons won’t affect immigrants’ wellbeing?
4. In what way promoting lifelong health and preventive care helps to maintain the functional capacity and well-being of individuals throughout the life cycle?
5. Is establishing universal social protection with adequate benefits key to reducing poverty and inequality, and promoting social resilience and inclusion?
6. Will eliminating age-related discrimination, including age barriers in employment, make an important contribution to reducing inequality, increasing productivity and promoting economic growth?
7. Would recommending retirement savings be the right way to improve the financial independence of individuals and support aggregate capital accumulation?
8. How will adopting social security reforms to account for the widening gap in longevity by socioeconomic status contribute to reducing inequality? Would it also reduce uncertainty about future benefits and allow individuals to better plan for their retirement?
9. Would you like to raise any other topic?
