Differences and Similarities in Patterns of Society Ageing in the European Union

Abstract

Population ageing is a demographic problem, which emphasises the need to be interested in the lives of the most vulnerable group–the elderly. The paper investigates the ageing process and similarity of selected countries in the European Union. The EU Member States were assessed and assigned to appropriate clusters according to several indicators related to the areas that affect the lives of the elderlies, namely health status, labour market conditions, and financial security. We focused on the age group 55+ years as it is a disadvantaged age group in a job application. The data from European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), Labour Force Survey (EU-LFS), and European System of integrated Social PROtection Statistics (ESSPROS) were used. The quantitative approaches were applied in the cluster analysis and followed by the panel data regression analysis. The dendrograms visualised the three clusters representing the similarity of the ageing patterns among the explored countries. The heat maps were created to prove the similarity between each couple of the observed countries. Results could be used as a valuable resource to government and national representatives. It can help identify the objectionable determinants and implement appropriate measures to improve the situation of the elderly.

Keywords: ageing, life expectancy, cluster analysis, regression analysis, European Union