Demografía y empleo de los trabajadores próximos a la jubilación en Cataluña

The social and economic performances that our societies are experiencing announce a wide set of implications in many areas of our life. Relative ageing and labour market participation of the eldest dynamics evolve along two separated paths: in one way the duration of life is continuously increasing, while in the other the number of years of work is decreasing due to larger education periods and, mostly, to early retirement. Both facts are common in the developed countries. General concern about them is motivating different decisions of political economy and many studies look for the proper solutions in order to avoid their negative consequences in the welfare. In this sense, this article reviews the demographic evolution in Catalunya and Spain, and analyses the use of early retirement in these areas. Once we estimate, using the Spanish Labour Force Survey, the distribution of workers through sectors of activity and levels of qualification, and once we accept that early retirement is specially used in specific sectors of activity, we are ready to anticipate which the pattern of retirement will be in the next decade. Depending on the results, some regions will be forced to make a bigger effort in order to accomplish the guidelines of the European Union relating to the working conditions of the elder people.