Panteion University professor Savvas Rompolis presented a study on unemployment and the aging of the population, according to which unemployment in Greece may drop from 28% to the pre-crisis rate of 12% by increasing the GDP by 48% or 91 billion euros.
The study, which was presented at an event organized by the Economic and Social Council of Greece (OKE), indicated the unemployed aged 45 to 65 are currently double the number of young unemployed people (359,000 vs 178,000), while the vast majority have low qualifications.
According to Mr. Rompolis unemployment in Greece will not drop bellow 20% by 2020, nor will the number of unemployed in Europe drop bellow 20,000,000 without a common European action plan. This plan must include incentives to avert the dismissal of older employees, a social plan for businesses and initiatives to generate jobs for elder employees.
Furthermore, associate professor Christos Bakavos also estimated that the population will not increase without immigration and argued that there will be a “negative flow” of immigration over the next few years. The trend of Greeks emigrating in search of employment overseas will continue, while immigrants in Greece will opt to return to their countries of origin due to ongoing crisis. Mr. Bakavos stressed that by 2049, 4 out of 10 people in Greece will be between 50 and 64 years old.
Finally, actuary Vasilis Betsis reported that the insurance system will require an additional 1 to 2.65 billion euros per year to fulfill its obligations, with at least half of these funds directly attributed to unemployment.
