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PRIORITYMEASURE19
“Design and implement public policies, plans and programmes—at all political and administrative levels— that take intoaccount changes in the age structure,
in particular population ageing, and the opportunities and challenges associatedwith these changes over themedium and long term.”
Possible lines of action
1. Prepare periodic reports that take into account the medium and long-term financial and economic impact of changes in the age
structure, based on long-term projections of the population by age in different sectors (health, education, pensions); 2. Incorporate the
results of these reports into public policies, plans and programmes at all political and administrative levels and in planning for sustainable
development ingeneral.
Targets
Public policies, plans and programmes take into account the medium and long-term social and economic impacts of changes in the age
structure of the population.
Tentative indicators
1. Existence of public policies, plans and programmes that consider the impact of the evolving age structure over the medium and
long terms.
Related instruments,
forums andmechanisms
Political Declaration from the SecondWorldAssembly onAgeing: article 8. “
We commit ourselves to the task of effectively incorporating
ageing within social and economic strategies, policies and action while recognizing that specific policies will vary according to
conditions within each country. We recognize the need to mainstream a gender perspective into all policies and programmes to take
account of the needs and experiences of olderwomen andmen.
”
Madrid International Plan of Action on Ageing: Introduction, paragraph 15: “
Mainstreaming ageing into global agendas is essential.
A concerted effort is required to move towards a wide and equitable approach to policy integration. The task is to link ageing to other
frameworks for social and economic development and human rights.Whereas specific policies will vary according to country and region,
populationageing is a universal force that has the power to shape the future asmuch as globalization
.”
Comments
PM 19, “Design and implement public policies, plans and programmes [...] that take into account changes in the age structure, in
particular population ageing”, taken together with PM 25, “Formulate policies to take advantage of the unique opportunity provided by
the demographic dividend”, seeks to develop policy responses to changes in the age structure, a key issue for population and development.
These measures also fall within the general framework of PM 4 of chapter A, “Integration of population dynamics into sustainable
development planning”. An important prerequisite for the success of these measures is implementation of PM 3, which will provide the
institutional support needed todesign and execute these policies.
Demographic change is one of themost significant forces shaping the outcomes of social policy, but it is not evident in the short term. Its
impact is immediately apparent when amid- to long-term approach is adopted, as recommended by PM 19. Several governments, aware
of the impacts of population ageing, have begun to develop official long-term budgetary projections: Australia (Australia, Treasury
Department, 2007), the European Union (Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs at the European Commission, 2006),
NewZealand (NewZealand, TreasuryDepartment, 2006) and theUnitedStates (Congressional Budget Office of theUnitedStates, 2009).
There are also long-term forecast studies on public spending for a number of countries in the region (Miller,Mason, andHolz, 2001) and
on health spending (ECLAC, 2010, 2013).
There is no standard definition for what constitutesmedium- and long-term in a demographic context. In general, however, the timeframe
should bemeasured in decades, rather than in years. For example, in the studiesmentioned above, the projection timeframes vary from 40
to 70years.
