December 13, 2022
The pension overhaul is delayed in France; Nearly one in 10 young people in the UK never intend to start working
Today’s global news summary brings news from France, the UK, and India and discusses issues as diverse as pensions, youth unemployment, and air pollution.
- France: The French president delays presentation of a pensions overhaul
- UK: Nearly one in 10 young people in the UK never intend to start working
- India: The air quality in Mumbai is deteriorating
France: The French president delays presentation of a pensions overhaul
Labor markets and institutions | Demography, family, and gender
Emmanuel Macron is postponing his presentation of a significant pensions overhaul which was due to be held on Thursday. The details of the reform will instead be revealed at the beginning of the new year. “Macron says the retirement age needs to be extended to 64 or 65, from 62 currently – one of the lowest ages in the EU – in order to finance the pay-as-you-go system as more people live longer and enter the workforce later,” Aljazeera reports.
In her article Laura Hospido points out that rising life expectancy and the growing fiscal insolvency of public pension systems have prompted many developed countries to raise the pension entitlement age. She writes that “the success of policies raising the retirement age depends on people’s responsiveness to changes in pension eligibility.”
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Nearly one in 10 young people in the UK never intend to start working
Program evaluation | Labor markets and institutions
A poll conducted by Opinium for City and Guilds which included 5,000 people has found that over 220,000 young people across the UK do not ever intend to get a job. As reported by The Telegraph, “young people are losing hope in what they see as a “hostile labour market” which requires skills they do not have”. The latest figures from the Office of National Statistics show that over 12% of 18-24 year-olds are neither in work nor studying.
In his article Francesco Pastore questions why youth unemployment is so high and different across countries. He writes that: “In Germany, young people are no worse off than adults in the labor market, while in southern and eastern European countries, they fare three to four times worse.”
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The air quality in Mumbai is deteriorating
Environment | Education and human capital | Demography, family, and gender
India Today reports that Mumbai’s air quality is deteriorating and it is becoming worse than it is in Delhi. “While Delhi is considered as one of the most polluted cities in India when it comes to air quality, currently Mumbai's air quality is worse than Delhi,” the news site reports. Breathing has become difficult for the local residents.
Sefi Roth, IZA World of Labor author, writes that not only is there a link between air pollution and human health but there is a lot of evidence showing that it “adversely affects scholastic achievement and human capital formation.” He adds that “improving air quality may also improve social mobility, as evidence suggests that air pollution affects educational outcomes unevenly across the income distribution”.
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