ABSTRACT
This chapter assesses the complex relationships between population ageing and gender gaps in the labor market, family relationships, and public policy in OECD countries.
Population ageing and gender gaps are closely related. Recent evidence shows that, in countries where women participate more in the labor market, fertility rates are higher, thus suggesting that gender equality in the labor market may counterbalance the ageing process. The current trends of ageing and gender equality are changing the labor force composition by increasing the proportion of elderly workers and of women. Ageing and gender equality also interact in the private sphere, influencing family and intergenerational relationships: the ageing process challenges the role of grandmothers as childcare providers and imposes a reconsideration of elderly women as care receivers. All these interactions create new pressure on public policy.
The pandemic is challenging the current relationship between ageing and gender equality: gender equality in the labor market is stalling, birth rates are declining, and family relationships—both intergenerational and intra-couple—are under pressure, due to the increased amount of childcare and housework together without the support of grandparents. Further research is needed to understand how public policies will deal with population ageing and the closure of gender gaps in this new context.
