The ageing of populations is one of the main secular developments shaping the 21st century. Ageing will fundamentally affect individuals as well as the European welfare states. Globalisation and population ageing now exert large pressures on our welfare states, necessitating reform of pension and health care systems. This will impact European labour markets as well as the health and well-being of European citizens.

The aim of the proposed topic is to exploit the diversity in Europe to better understand the key relationships between demographics, welfare regimes, pension provision, public health, employment, income security, and wellbeing in a multidisciplinary and cross-national framework. With the proposed topic, we intend to stimulate scientific research that will add cutting-edge scientific knowledge on the core topics of the European social and economic policy debate.

The research topics for this Forward Look are brought together in three broad themes:

Workshops on each of the above topics will be held in order to produce a theme paper summarising the current state of research, the research challenges , and what is needed to fruitfully address these challenges in the next five to ten years.

All papers will be presented at a final conference of the Forward Look exercise, where scientists as well as non-academic parties and policy makers will be invited.  A final report will recapitulate findings and propose a research agenda.

The Forward Look is expected to run from early 2008 to late 2009.