Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-11-19-Speech-3-359"
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"en.20081119.23.3-359"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I welcome this debate because it raises awareness, rather than arousing fear We must take action now, without waiting until tomorrow.
Demographic change has its causes, consequences and challenges, which include falling population levels, fewer people in gainful employment and the likelihood of us living longer. The children born during the next few minutes may live to the age of 100. Indeed, this will be the case for half of these children. The population is ageing and we are having fewer children. This is resulting in dramatic changes to the age structure and the population structure. We in this House are faced by new infrastructure requirements, new requirements on public services and on business, education and social systems. This is an ageing continent. Jean-Claude Juncker once said, ‘If we do not rapidly redesign our social, pension and health systems so that they are fit for the future, we will become the losers in the globalisation process, instead of the winners.’
What is to be done? There is a great deal to do. Ensuring that people have a good work-life balance. No longer forcing people to give up working. New forms of care, child care and mobile services, such as meals on wheels, are required. In all Member States, responsibility for financing care must be taken away from social security systems and become a community responsibility. We are facing a challenge in the field of education. Our goal should be to become the most child-friendly and people-friendly continent in the world. We must credit time spent bringing up children and providing other forms of care, because 80% of carers are family members. Equal pay for equal work is also important. Much remains to be done and our problems have a wide range of different causes."@en1
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