In all OECD countries, with the exception of Luxembourg, the elderly population (those aged 65 years and over) has dramatically increased over the last decade, both in size and as a percentage of the total population.

Metropolitan areas are generally the destination of young migrants. Despite this, population ageing has become also an urban phenomenon in many OECD countries. The elderly dependency rate, i.e. the ratio between the elderly population and the working age population, across the 281 OECD metropolitan areas was equal to 22% in 2014, very close to the 24% average in OECD countries. However, while in Japanese metropolitan areas the elderly dependency rate was on average 40% in 2014, in Mexico metropolitan areas this was below 10% ().

Inter-regional mobility within countries is an important component of the change in the demographic structure and in the labour force supply.

The long-term development of societies, politically and economically, depends to a great extent on the knowledge, skills, values and competences acquired by people at an early age. Educational and working opportunities for the young people are also fundamental to enhance social cohesion, by discouraging people from engaging in illegal activities, reducing political and social conflict, and increasing trust in others and in institutions.

Part-time employment has increased in many OECD countries during the past years, representing almost one-fifth of total employment in 2014. Depending on the institutional and economic context, part-time employment can have opposing effects on the well-being of the working population. On the one hand, part-time workers may suffer a penalty compared to their full-time counterparts in terms of job-security, training, promotion, and unemployment benefits. On the other hand, part-time employment can offer a better family-friendly working-time arrangement. In general, in the presence of the right incentives, part-time jobs seem to promote labour force participation and can be a relevant alternative to inactivity (OECD, 2015a).

Health services and doctors are distributed unequally across different regions in most OECD countries, and this causes concern about how to ensure access to health everywhere and foster better health outcomes.

Municipal waste management and treatment play an important role to abate and control pollution. Indeed, it helps prevent the formation of greenhouse gas emissions, such as methane and other toxic gases, which form through the degradation of organic waste in landfills, particularly in warmer climates. Additionally, efficient waste management reduces the risk of spreading diseases.

People living in metropolitan areas have higher income than those living outside metropolitan areas. According to the estimation of household disposable income in 18 OECD countries, based in most cases on tax records, the average income in metropolitan areas is on average 17% higher than elsewhere (Boulant et al., 2016). The income premium in metropolitan areas with respect to the national average is always positive, with the exceptions of Belgium, but it can differ significantly across countries (). Mexico is the country where the difference between income of metropolitan and non-metropolitan residents is the highest (68%), followed by Hungary (37%), Estonia (34%) and Chile (23%). It should be acknowledged, however, that relatively higher incomes do not necessarily imply a higher purchasing power available to metropolitan residents. In fact, differences in living costs between locations can offset partially earning differences across urban and rural places.