Issue Welfare systems need redesign as the senior gap widens

Summary

The sustainability of welfare systems is described as one of the central social tasks of an ageing society. According to the report, the senior gap in first-wave countries will widen to 1.3 to 1.5 times its current level by 2050. Public transfers currently fill 40 to 80 percent of that gap depending on the country, with public pensions playing the main role. As ageing deepens, tax revenue falls while pension, health and care spending rises, so pressure toward government deficits keeps building. The report holds that adjusting the retirement age is not enough and calls for fundamentally redesigning welfare, expanding public care infrastructure to increase labor supply and rebalancing intergenerational redistribution. A long-term reconstruction of the social contract is presented as more urgent than short-term fixes.