Gunhild Hagestad Sociologa Noruega
- MICRO AND MACRO PERSPECTIVES ON INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONS AND TRANSFERS IN EUROPE
- Gunhild O. Hagestad and Katharina Herlofson, Agder University College
and Norwegian Social Research
- Parts of Europe have been experiencing the demographic transition for more than a century, and
much of the continent has had some time to reflect on the changes and their implications. The contours of the changes are well-known: a lifespan of 80 years that has become the “expected” rather than the exceptional, especially for women; and a population age structure that includes about equal proportions of children and old people, moving towards a situation in near future when individuals aged 60 or over will outnumber children by a ratio of two to one. These changes have reshaped population pyramids, altered the composition of family networks, and changed the rhythm of individual lives. Table 1 and figure 1 show the relative size of older and younger age groups, at present and in 2050, based on United Nations data. Table 1 shows that there are distinct contrasts in age and sex composition in various regions of Europe. By 2050, Eastern and Western Europe will have the strongest “top-heaviness”. Figures for North America are included for comparison. This paper outlines some possible consequences of the demographic changes for intergenerational ties and transfer patterns in different parts of Europe.