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Policy Briefs

Population Europe’s policy brief series “Population & Policy Compact” comprehensively summarises cutting-edge research results and provides policy recommenda­tions on specific population topics. Within four pages, each volume provides a concise and succinct synthesis of key research findings by eminent researchers from the Network and other leading European experts.

A One-Size-fits-All Solution for Increasing the Employment Level of Older People?

A One-Size-fits-All Solution for Increasing the Employment Level of Older People?

Insights from a High-Level Policy Expert Meeting
Download Population & Policy Compact 17/2018 (679.77 KB)
In upcoming decades, population ageing in the Baltic Sea States is inevitable due to long-term population trends such as low birth rates and increasing life expectancy, as well as migration. As a consequence, the labour force will substantially shrink and become significantly older. Population ageing, therefore, will not only exert pressure on the sustainable funding of pension and healthcare systems, but also represents a challenge to economic prosperity, social cohesion and social sustainability between generations as a whole.
Social Inequalities in Mortality

Social Inequalities in Mortality

The increasing advantage of the married
Download Population & Policy Compact 16/2018 (783.74 KB)
Key Messages Married individuals live longer than the non-married, and in Norway and some other countries, this mortality gap has become larger over recent decades. Among the never-married in Norway, mortality did not fall over the last decades of the 20th century, and in 2005-08, mortality was as high for them as it was for the married three decades earlier.

It is widely known that better educated persons tend to live longer than the less educated. There is apparently less public and political awareness of the fact that marital status is also strongly associated with mortality. Yet, hundreds of studies carried out over more than 150 years have shown that those who are married have better health and live longer than those who are never-married, divorced or widowed. In combination with the large proportion of non-married in European countries, and the likely future increase, such a gap in health and mortality between married and non-married persons may be seen as a major public health challenge. The situation will be particularly worrying if the mortality disadvantage of the non-married increases, as it has done over recent decades in several countries.

Changing Partnership Patterns, Housing and New Social Vulnerabilities

Changing Partnership Patterns, Housing and New Social Vulnerabilities

Download Population & Policy Compact 14/2017 (606.66 KB)
Key Messages: Increasing divorce and separation rates have major implications for current and future levels of housing inequality, patterns of social stratification and opportunities for spatial mobility. Prolonged residential instability after separation could lead to instability for individuals in other life domains (e.g. psychological wellbeing, children’s schooling, access to friendship networks, post-separation socio-economic status).
Becoming an Adult in Europe

Becoming an Adult in Europe

It’s time to provide more cross-sectorial support to young people
Download Population & Policy Compact 13/2017 (746.84 KB)
Key messages: Policy proposals for young Europeans should be based on a life course perspective. Challenges faced by individuals should be seen as a consequence of a series of intertwined life events that occur within particular policy, socio-economic and cultural contexts. Independence in young adulthood should be viewed as a multi-dimensional concept, which includes residential, economic and psychological independence. 
The Demographic Impact of the EU Referendum

The Demographic Impact of the EU Referendum

EU migrants in the UK
Download Population & Policy Compact 12/2016 (1.4 MB)
Key messages: EU-born migrants are more likely to be young, in employment, skilled with qualifications and in good health than UK citizens. Many of them are in partnerships with UK-born partners and a significant share of these couples have children. Withdrawing entitlements to social support from EU migrants, and thereby individualising their social risks, makes it much harder for work-focused migrants to use their skills and capabilities to the fullest extent – with significantly negative consequences for the UK economy.
Vulnerability in Times of Family Diversity

Vulnerability in Times of Family Diversity

A practitioners’ view
Download Population & Policy Compact 11/2016 (2.94 MB)
Key messages: Practitioners can provide valuable insights into the situation of today’s vulnerable families and help delineate areas where policy interventions are essential. No family configuration inevitably leads to vulnerability, but some are more “at risk” than others. Decisive for family wellbeing is the ability to combine family life with paid employment.
Who Pays for Demographic Change?

Who Pays for Demographic Change?

Public finances and intergenerational transfers
Download Population & Policy Compact 10/2015 (545.08 KB)
Key messages: Economic consequences of population ageing are not just determined by demographic change, but to a large extent by the characteristics of the economic life cycle. The concept of the life cycle deficit provides a new way to measure dependency based on the difference between age-specific consumption and production. Maintaining the fiscal sustainability of the public transfer systems in many European countries requires a rethinking of the average economic life cycle.
The Pitfalls of a European Migration Policy

The Pitfalls of a European Migration Policy

Migration and political challenges in times of crisis in the EU
Download Population & Policy Compact 09/2015 (1.3 MB)
Key messages: A European migration policy is hampered by structural and institutional limits on cooperation between the Member States and between different policy fields at the European level. The divisive issues of today’s migration debate are fears of alleged “welfare shopping”, mixed flows of migration and the secondary movement of migrants, which are all situated in grey areas between the current institutional baskets.
The Two Sides of the Same Coin

The Two Sides of the Same Coin

Challenges of policymaking for a mobile Europe
Download Population & Policy Compact 08/2014 (691.6 KB)
Key messages: Europeans are increasingly mobile in terms of commuting and travelling, whereas rates of permanent change in residence across borders are scarce. Relocation rates within countries are stable or are even going down. Experiences of mobility are very heterogeneous and circumstances that lead people to be mobile change over the life course. Policies should support the development of “skills for mobility”, particularly at younger ages, but older people should also not be ignored.