Old Age Deprivation and Social Exclusion in Europe: New Evidence on an Old Issue
George Papadoudis, Theodore Papadogonas, George Sfakianakis

Abstract
Population ageing is one of the most pressing issues in the 21st century for Europe. Its role is already dominant posing serious fiscal questions to all member states. Pension and health care reforms seems to be in constant adjustments attempting to cope with a reality so much different than the past. In this context, the old age population is treated as a single manageable group of people threatened by while threatening every budget limit available. In this paper, we argue that the older individuals are characterized by multiple differences and inequalities. First among them is their socioeconomic status which appears to be far from homogeneous. The outcomes of the analysis reveal that not all individuals age following the same pattern. They do have common needs to cover but their coverage is not so common. The initial findings provide a comparative analysis for 14 European countries plus Israel during 2013. The empirical evidence is able to provide alternative interpretations to the ageing crisis trying to fill important information gaps relevant to social policy across Europe.

Full Text: PDF