With an ageing population, the EU will need to support a higher share of people over age 65 than ever before. To do this, increasing labour force participation is by far the most effective policy.
- The EU’s labour force will be smaller and due to population ageing more people will be dependent on fewer workers – but one factor has the potential to limit the dependency burden: increasing labour force participation.
- If men and women had equal participation rates, the EU’s labour force would have 13 million more workers in 2060 than in projections based on current trends.
- If everyone had higher participation rates – men, women and those over 65 – we would be able to stabilise the labour force size completely. We would have 245 million workers in 2060 – the same amount we have today.

Increasing labour force participation is most effective to cope wiht population aging.
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Demographic Scenarios for the EU - Migration, Population and Education
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Report: Demographic Scenarios for the EU - Migration, Population and Education
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