Similar tendencies in the age structure of the population will also occur in other European countries as well as in Japan and – although not quite so dramatically – in the United States. Increased life expectancy, declining birth rates and earlier retirement are the factors behind this trend.
This gives rise to the following key question: In the context of an aging society, how can one ensure a rate of economic growth that permits a sufficient income transfer from the working population to pensioners which does not cause the “inter-generational contract” to collapse under its own weight?