Getting older: Demographic challenges in South East Europe

Speaker
Arjan Gjonça (LSE), Branimir Jovanovic (IIES, Vienna), Vladimir Nikitovic (ISS, Belgrade), Dijana Spasenoska (LSE)
Event date
Event time
17:00 - 18:45
Venue
St Antony's College (In-Person and Online)
European Studies Centre
70 Woodstock Road
Oxford
OX2 6HR
Venue details

Seminar Room

Event type
Lectures and seminars
Event cost
Free
Disabled access?
Yes
Booking required
Required

As South East European populations grow older, demography is becoming a key topic in political and academic debates in the region. From Zagreb to Athens, all three main determinants of the age structure of a population – low fertility, growing life expectancy, and net emigration – are pointing to an increasingly unsustainable share of elderly citizens with serious ramifications for the future of South East European economies and societies.  

In recent decades, shifting cultural norms around the meaning of family and suboptimal policy configurations for the work-life balance of parents have depressed birth rates far below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman. Life expectancy has been rising well into the late 70s despite the partial (and presumably temporary) reversal caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, net emigration of mostly working-age population has exacerbated the distortive effects of the previous two trends on population aging, in stark contrast to the mitigating role played by net immigration in some West European countries. 

This session will provide an overview of these demographic trends and address their broader implications for the intergenerational social contract in South East Europe. 

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