Social Agenda Issue 52 - EN

SOCIAL AFFAIRS The 2018 Pension Adequacy report therefore calls on EU countries to improve access and accrual conditions for non-standard and self-employment. They could do so, for instance, by adapting accrual conditions to diverse work patterns, so that people such as agency or temporary workers, who have very fragmented careers, may be able to claim pension rights at least for the periods during which they actually worked and paid contributions. Presently, some pension systems only take into account uninterrupted work periods of a certain duration. The report also explores the potential of supplementary savings ( i.e. occupational and personal pensions), taking into account the specificities of the pension system in each Member State as supplementary pensions inter-act with public ones. There is no one-size fits all but, in this area in particular, there is a major potential for improvement. Country-specific Volume II of the 2018 Pension Adequacy report contains country profiles, and points out the main opportunities for each Member State to address the challenges facing pension adequacy. Together with the 2018 Ageing Report that was published on 25 May and addresses the financial sustainability issue, the Pension Adequacy Report will feed into the European Semester process of economic and social policy coordination (see page 24). Every year, the European Semester process produces a series of country-specific recommendations. For the 2018 European Semester cycle, the Commission proposal includes four more recommendations on pensions adequacy than last year. Two working-age people for every older person by 2070 The total population in the EU is set to increase from 511 million in 2016 to 520 million in 2070. However, the working-age population (15 to 64 years old) will decrease significantly, from 333 million to 292 million. The ratio of people aged 65 and above, relative to those aged 15 to 64, will increase by 21.6%, from 29.6% in 2016 to 51.2% in 2070. The EU would then go from having 3.3 working-age people for every person aged over 65 to only two. While the total supply of labour in the EU among those aged 20-64 is expected to fall by 9.6% between 2016 and 2070, labour force participation rates will rise from 77.5% to 80.7%, with increases especially among women and older people. Between 2013 and 2016, employment in the 55-64 age group grew by 5.1% (4.2 million workers), due to later retirement and new, better-educated age cohorts replacing previous ones. Fragmented career: Accrual conditions must be adapted to people who have very fragmented careers. © Belga Image More information: http://europa.eu/!Hq76py and http:// europa.eu/!PP49GT 1 0 / SOC I A L AG E NDA / J U LY 2 0 1 8