More specifically, while the employment rate of prime-age men in the euro area is comparable with that in the United States, considerable disparities remain when we look at employment rates among the young, among women and among older workers.
Investors’ confidence in the soundness of financial intermediaries and markets has been shaken and this may well spread disaffection among workers, notably with respect to pension funds’ defined contribution (DC) schemes. Workers may feel less able than in the past to make difficult decisions about the appropriate level of contributions and dependable asset allocation.