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Korea faces an extraordinary ageing challenge. Korea will age much faster than other OECD countries: in 2000, about 7% of Korea’s population were over 65; in 2050, senior citizens will constitute about 37% of Korea’s population. Population ageing will unfold at high speed, firstly because of the dramatic increase in life expectancy from just over 52 years in 1960 to over 77 years in 2004. a major cause of this was the spectacular decrease in infant mortality rates from 45 infants per 1000 live births in 1970 to 5.3 in 2002. The second cause of population ageing is the sharp decline in birth rates from close to 3 children per woman in 1975 to less than 1.2 in 2004. Reduced child mortality rates and increased life expectancy are indicators of the success of the Korean economy and society. However, the decline in fertility rates in Korea is evidence of strains in society which will damage prosperity in the future.
Population ageing on this scale will inevitably lead to a huge increase in spending on old-age income support and health care, and will also require the development of a public family policy which supports the reconciliation of work and care commitments of workers. To successfully meet the ageing challenge, the OECD believes that three policy objectives must be targeted. First, the decline in the working-age population needs to be slowed. Second, working opportunities need to be extended. Third, affordable and sustainable pension and health care policies must be implemented. This volume looks at existing Korean family, health and pension policies from an international perspective, considers them in view of the emerging policy challenges, and outlines some of the policy options that are available to policy makers in Korea.
Rising disinformation has far-reaching consequences in many policy areas ranging from public health to national security. It can cast doubt on factual evidence, jeopardise the implementation of public policies and undermine people's trust in the integrity of democratic institutions. This report explores how to respond to these challenges and reinforce democracy. It presents an analytical framework to guide countries in the design of policies, looking at three complementary dimensions: implementing policies to enhance the transparency, accountability, and plurality of information sources; fostering societal resilience to disinformation; and upgrading governance measures and public institutions to uphold the integrity of the information space.
This report maps strategies, governance tools, institutional settings and innovative approaches used by governments across the OECD to drive and support society-wide gender equality goals. It covers all state institutions, including legislatures and judiciaries, and discusses the challenges faced by OECD countries in achieving long-lasting impact. Finally, the report provides policy guidance for state institutions, supported by examples of what works across the OECD. This report establishes a baseline for monitoring progress, based on the 2015 OECD Recommendation of the Council on Gender Equality in Public Life.
This study reviews the status of existing surveys that measure health professional skills, and identifies gaps where more attention and resources will be needed to generate policy-relevant evidence on skills requirements, skills use and skills mismatch in healthcare settings.
Compared to other OECD countries, the EU only attracts a small share of highly qualified migrants from abroad. This report presents a revised provisional Talent Pool scenario and includes a cost-effectiveness analysis as well as recommendations on the actions required to develop the Talent Pool.
This publication provides an overview of the recent trends and developments in financial education policies and programmes in Europe. It describes the status of national strategies for financial education and various financial education programmes targeting a variety of audiences and through a variety of delivery channels. Based on the analysis of these initiatives, the report offers policy and practical suggestions for European policy makers and other stakeholders.
Are tax incentives the best way to encourage people to save for retirement? This publication assesses whether countries can improve the design of financial incentives to promote savings for retirement. After describing how different countries design financial incentives to promote savings for retirement in funded pensions, the study calculates the overall tax advantage that individuals may benefit from as a result of those incentives when saving for retirement. It then examines the fiscal cost of those incentives and their effectiveness in increasing retirement savings, and looks into alternative approaches to designing financial incentives. The study ends with policy guidelines on how to improve the design of financial incentives to promote savings for retirement, highlighting that depending on the policy objective certain designs of tax incentives or non-tax incentives may be more appropriate.
This report, prepared at the request of Deputies of the G10, reviews economic consequences of ageing populations for financial markets and recommends that a) governments help facilitate development of financial instruments to support retirement savings and pensions; b) governments strengthen regulation and supervision of these markets; c) tax rules should not hinder the build-up of financial buffers by private pension funds, but should avoid the abuse of tax deferrals; and d) financial education needs to be strengthened.
Infrastructure worldwide has suffered from chronic under-investment for decades and currently makes up more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. A deep transformation of existing infrastructure systems is needed for both climate and development, one that includes systemic conceptual and behavioural changes in the ways in which we manage and govern our societies and economies. This report is a joint effort by the OECD, UN Environment and the World Bank Group, supported by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. It focuses on how governments can move beyond the current incremental approach to climate action and more effectively align financial flows with climate and development priorities. The report explores six key transformative areas that will be critical to align financial flows with low-emission and resilient societies (planning, innovation, public budgeting, financial systems, development finance, and cities) and looks at how rapid socio-economic and technological developments, such as digitalisation, can open new pathways to low-emission, resilient futures.
While the number of migrants in Finland remains small, the relatively short history of migration in Finland has led to a number of integration challenges.
The OECD presents in this synthesis note the findings of a workshop – held on 28th April in Stockholm – that first worked to identify the bottlenecks and shortcomings in the design and implementation of integration policy in Sweden and then focused on seven themes identified by the OECD and the Swedish authorities as critical issues facing migrants in their integration into the Swedish labour market
This profile provides a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and the health system in Finland as part of the broader series of the State of Health in the EU country profiles. It provides a short synthesis of: the health status in the country; the determinants of health, focussing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the health system; and the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of the health system.
This profile is the joint work of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in co-operation with the European Commission.
This profile provides a concise and policy-relevant overview of health and the health system in Finland as part of the broader series of the State of Health in the EU country profiles. It provides a short synthesis of: the health status in the country; the determinants of health, focussing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the health system; and the effectiveness, accessibility and resilience of the health system. This edition has a special focus on the impact of COVID‑19.
This profile is the joint work of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, in co-operation with the European Commission.
This profile provides a concise and policy-focused overview of the state of health and the healthcare system in Finland, as a part of the broader series of Country Health Profiles from the State of Health in the EU initiative. It presents a succinct analysis encompassing the following key aspects: the current health status in Finland; the determinants of health, focusing on behavioural risk factors; the organisation of the Finnish healthcare system; and an evaluation of the health system's effectiveness, accessibility, and resilience. Moreover, the 2023 edition presents a thematic section on the state of mental health and associated services in Finland.
This profile is the collaborative effort of the OECD and the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, carried out in cooperation with the European Commission.
Finding sufficient funds to pay for more resilient health systems is challenging in the current economic context. COVID-19 has shown the need for additional targeted spending on public health interventions, the digital transformation of health systems, and bolstering the health workforce. Rising incomes, technological innovation and changing demographics put further upward pressure on health spending. This could result in health spending reaching 11.8% of GDP across OECD counties by 2040.
This publication explores the policy options to finance more resilient health systems whilst maintaining fiscal sustainability. It finds that the scale of the additional health financing needs requires ambitious and transformative policy changes. Robust actions to encourage healthier populations and policies to reduce ineffective spending can put future health expenditure on a far gentler upward trajectory. These would enable spending to reach a more sustainable 10.6% of GDP in 2040.
Better budgetary governance is critical. It improves how public funds for health are determined, executed and evaluated. Therefore, a focus of this report is on how good budgeting practices can increase the efficiency of current public spending, and also enable more ambitious policy changes in the medium to longer-term. Findings of this report are targeted at health and finance policy makers, with improved dialogue between health and finance ministries especially important when governments are operating in a constrained fiscal setting.
The health systems we enjoy today, and expected medical advances in the future, will be difficult to finance from public resources without major reforms. Public health spending in OECD countries has grown rapidly over most of the last half century. These spending increases have contributed to important progress in population health: for example, life expectancy at birth has increased, rising on average by ten years since 1970. The challenge now is to sustain and enhance these achievements in a context of tight fiscal constraints in many countries combined with upward pressure on health spending from factors such as new technological advances and demographic changes. Finding policies that can make health spending more sustainable without compromising important achievements in access and quality requires effective co-operation between health and finance ministries. Sound governance and co-ordination mechanisms are therefore essential to ensure effective policy choices. Prepared by both public finance and health experts, this report provides a unique detailed overview of institutional frameworks for financing health care in OECD countries. One of the main features of this book is a comprehensive mapping of budgeting practices and governance structure in health across OECD countries.
The costs of mental ill-health for individuals, employers and society at large are enormous. Mental illness is responsible for a very significant loss of potential labour supply, high rates of unemployment, and a high incidence of sickness absence and reduced productivity at work. Following an introductory report (Sick on the Job: Myths and Realities about Mental Health and Work) and nine country reports, this final synthesis report summarizes the findings from the participating countries and makes the case for a stronger policy response.
A series of reviews of mental health and work policies in selected OECD countries revealed the challenge of mental health for social and labour market outcomes and policies and the high costs of the continued stigmatisation of mental health for individuals, employers and societies. To better respond to this challenge, in early 2016 health and employment ministers from the 38 OECD countries endorsed a Recommendation of the Council on Integrated Mental Health, Skills, and Work Policy. The Recommendation asked for a holistic mental-health-in-all-policies approach, with particular attention to a timely and integrated delivery of services and the involvement of frontline actors.
Five years later, it is time to assess progress achieved in the policy areas covered by the Recommendation (health policy, youth policy, workplace policy, and welfare policy). This report complements a legal document prepared by the OECD on the implementation of the Recommendation five years after its adoption, and adds quantitative evidence to it as well as considerations about the implications of the experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic on future versions of the Recommendation. Policy is in flux in most countries but much more will have to be done to implement the principles and fulfil the promises of the Recommendation.
Recent years have seen a remarkable backlash against globalisation. The costs of increased openness and connectivity – including the consequences of trade and investment liberalisation – are weighted as never before against the benefits, with many voices advocating a slowdown or even a reversal of the global integration that has characterised the past three decades. While there are many economic, social and political reasons for this backlash, there is sufficient evidence showing that globalisation is leaving many people behind, particularly in the lower half of the income distribution, and especially in advanced countries. This backlash suggests that we need to act quickly to fix globalisation and make sure that its benefits are more equally shared. The consequences of a potential reversal of global integration could be dramatic: increased protectionism resulting in a net loss of wealth and opportunities and dangerous inward-looking policies that would put at risk many of the benefits achieved in the past decades.