Population ageing in Europe and Asia: Beyond traditional perspectives

Population ageing is the central demographic concern in Europe and Asia. Traditional
perspectives on population ageing are based on fixed old-age thresholds, such as
age 65, which are not ideal for cross-country comparisons, as they do not take into
account the multiple dimensions of population ageing. Moreover, previous population
ageing studies often ignored the diversity of the ageing processes across countries,
men and women, and socio-economic groups.
This thesis compared current and future population ageing in Europe and Asia
using new comparative ageing indicators that take into account differentials in life
expectancy, health, and human capital across European and Asian populations.
This new perspective shows that the differences in the current and the projected
population ageing trends in Europe and in Asia are smaller than were previously
estimated. However, it appears that this diversity in population ageing trends is
more pronounced across regions, men and women, and educational groups than
was previously estimated. The share of elderly in the population has been found
to be higher in populations with lagging life expectancy, health, and human capital
attainments: i.e., in most Asian countries, among women in the developing countries
of Asia and in Eastern Europe, and among the lower educated in both continents. In
the future, levels of population ageing are expected to increase further, particularly
in Asia, where the responsiveness of population ageing to increases in education is
likely to be high.
Our results suggest that investments in health and human capital, especially among
vulnerable groups, such as the less educated and women in Asia, are needed to
delay the onset of ‘old age’ for these groups, and to reduce population ageing and its
negative societal consequences.