Fremtidens ældre - Amternes og Kommunernes Forskningsinstitut

cy). But it is also important that more young people, immigrants and refugees
are drawn into the workforce. Finally, it should be possible to change
the pattern of retiring from the workforce, so that more elderly are encouraged
to stay longer on the labour market – either full or part-time. There is
something strange about how people in Denmark retire from one day to the
next – they go from working 37 hours a week to not working at all. Many
elderly would undoubtedly be happy to continue working longer, if their
workloads could be reduced (and it was worth their while financially). And
many elderly could be engaged in community work. Since the 70-year-olds
are healthier and more agile than previously, some of them might perhaps
find it worthwhile to help other elderly.
The financial structure of the Danish welfare system should undoubtedly
be reorganised. In view of the fact that there are many (and will be
more) affluent pensioners, the logical approach would be to have them pay
for some of the services that the state provides. Home care is a good example,
but even visits to a GP could be covered by user charges. However,
user charges alone cannot solve all the problems. Today, the majority of
pensioners in Denmark would not be able to afford them, and even in 30
years (when the Danish Confederation of Trade Unions’ pension scheme is
fully developed) there will be a substantial minority who will not be able to
afford user charges.
Calculations show that increased employment rates (high pension
ages) and user charges can at the most solve no more than a quarter of the
financial problem. The remainder will have to be dealt with through fiscal
policy. However, the problem is far from unsolvable. And the elderly may
become important participants in confronting this challenge. But if we do
not begin to face the challenge now, we could easily end up with a painful
quick-fix solution.
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