Czech Business Today

At the beginning of the 20th century, the average life expectancy was barely 50 years. Nowadays, half of the children born after 2000 are expected to live more than 100 years. 

Rapidly increasing life expectancy and better health care together with lower birth rate lead to adverse demographic trends. The ageing population represents an extreme burden for public budgets. 

Therefore, year 2012 has been designated by the European Commission as the “European Year for Active Ageing”. Active ageing is the process of optimizing opportunities for health, participation and security in order to enhance quality of life. Participants of the debate organized by CEBRE on 7th March in Prague agreed that “future perspectives are uncertain. For this reason the problem must be immediately challenged.” In the long run, it is necessary to enhance the born rate. Maternity should not be seen as an obstacle for the labour market success. „Social challenges have to be addressed at EU level, however many Member States perceive them as national issue“, said Richard Falbr, Member of Committee for Employment and Social Affairs of the European Parliament. States have to create flexible labour markets and promote part-time jobs. 

Last but not least, requalification and vocational training opportunities should be cornerstone for effective tackling of structural crisis. Employees have to be able to react on changing demand of working labour. According to Jan Dobeš, Deputy Minister of labour and social affairs responsible for social inclusion and equal opportunities, it is necessary to address the issue of active ageing as well as related issues not only in medium but also in the long run. National priorities have to be based on this approach, particularly with regard to health and social care. Therefore, new National Program “Preparing for Ageing 2013–2017” will be prepared by the end of 2012. 

However, successful implementation of the strategy has to be measured on peoples themselves. “Elderly need to feel that they really live active ageing”, added Dobeš. Tomáš Dombrovský, the spokesman of LMC Company, says that the key problem of the Czech labour market lies in its rigidity and alternative forms of employment are not often used. Without saying, only 6 % of youth and old people are working on part-time, nevertheless the European average of part-time workers is 20 %. However, part-time job is in many cases addressing solution to unemployment of disadvantaged persons.