France accelerates the development of silver-haired economy
reporter Qian Tong
Recently, French government spokesman Gabriel Attar said that if Macron is re-elected, the reform of the pension system will be a priority for his second term.
At present, the French election is imminent, and the national pension, as one of the most concerned presidential election issues, has once again been pushed to the forefront of public opinion.
As a high-welfare country, France has rich experience in pension issues. Apart from the pension reform promoted by Macron, the development of a "silver economy" is another measure to deal with the problem of population aging.
At present, the aging trend of the French population is obvious, and it is accelerating towards an aging society.
According to the latest report on the French population by the French National Statistics Office, the French population is expected to gradually decline after reaching a peak of 69.3 million in 2044, before falling to 68.1 million in 2070.
During this period, the aging problem of the French population will continue to increase. By then, the elderly population over the age of 65 will account for 29% of the total French population, compared with 20% currently.
The French National Statistics Office stressed that the ageing trend of the French population will continue until at least 2040.
In fact, not only will the aging population accelerate in the future, but the French fertility rate has been declining year after year in the past 10 years.
According to the data of the French Retirement Steering Committee, France's pension bill in 2019 reached 329.7 billion euros, accounting for 13.5% of GDP.
In the face of various problems caused by population aging, the French government has not stood idly by, but tried to alleviate the negative impact of population aging by increasing income and reducing expenditure. In addition to the drastic pension system reform of the Macron government, the French government has been committed to supporting In industries related to the elderly, vigorously develop the "silver economy".
In June 2005, the French government established the National Family Service Agency, which included the family service industry, including the elderly care service industry, into the national development strategic plan.
In 2007, the French government adopted two national pension plans for the elderly, "An Old Age (2007-2009)" and "Mutual Aid for the Elderly (2007-2012)" to encourage the development of elderly care services and institutions.
In addition, the French government established the "French Silver Ecology" Association in 2009 as a platform for communication and cooperation between the public sector and the private sector in related fields.
On September 29, 2015, Macron, who was then the French Minister of Economy, Industry and Digitalization, presided over a meeting on the development strategy of the French "silver economy" sector, and at that time regarded the "silver economy" as a huge French economy. economic opportunity.
Driven by the French government, many French industries have emerged in the "silver economy" field.
According to data from the French Living Conditions Research and Observation Center, people over 50 in France account for about 50% of consumption.
For example, in the field of health, the elderly in France account for about 65% of consumption in hygiene products, home care, telemedicine, nutritional food, etc., while 57% of consumption in leisure fields such as tourism, sports, and multimedia equipment purchases are accounted for by the elderly. contract.
According to previous official data from France, the market size of the French "silver economy" will reach about 130 billion euros from 2020.
Institutional pension is a major feature of France's "silver economy".
The French government has given corresponding subsidies to the elderly who live in related institutions, which has greatly promoted the development of the industry.
According to data from the French National Statistics Office, there are more than 10,000 elderly care institutions in France, including apartments for the elderly, with more than 700,000 beds.
Among them, public institutions accounted for 40%, private for-profit institutions accounted for 31%, and private non-profit institutions accounted for 29%.
In 2019, the French aged care industry had a turnover of 18 billion euros and employed more than 1 million people.
The aging population in France is not a problem that can be solved in a short time, but the "silver economy" has already achieved a certain scale in France, and has formed its own unique advantages in the fields of family and community pension. The future development of France's "silver economy" is undoubtedly It will become one of the important measures to alleviate the negative impact of population aging.
Our reporter Qian Tong