European welfare state regimes and their generosity towards the elderly
Inhalt
The paper examines the generosity of the European welfare state towards the elderly. It shows how
various dimensions of the welfare regimes have changed during the recent 10-15 years and how this
evolution was related to the process of economic integration. Dimensions include general generosity
towards the elderly and more specifically generosity towards early retirement and generosity towards
the poor. Using aggregate data (EUROSTAT, OECD) as well as individual data (SHARE, the new
Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe), the paper looks at the statistical correlations
among those types of system generosity and actual policy outcomes, such as unemployment and poverty
rates among the young and the elderly, and the inequality in wealth, income and consumption.
While the paper is largely descriptive, we also try to understand which economic and political forces
drive social expenditures for the elderly in the European Union and whether spending for the elderly
crowds out spending for the young.
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