Zacharaki unveils National Action Plan for dealing with demographic issues

Minister for Social Cohesion and Family Sofia Zacharaki on Wednesday outlined a raft of measures presented to the cabinet in order to address Greece's ageing population and declining birth rates, which will start to be implemented from 2025 onwards.

The National Action Plan for the Demographic Problem has a 10-year horizon and unfolds along five main lines, while it has 20 targets and involves more than 100 actions.

Its aim is to develop the strategy, define the goals, shape the policies and implement the appropriate measures to alleviate the impact of unfavourable demographic changes to fiscal sustainability, long-term competitiveness, prosperity and social cohesion.

It does not confine itself to efforts to boost births but aims at a comprehensive management of the impact of the change in the age structure of the population.

Emphasis will be given to creating a favourable environment for having a family, boosting employment, managing the longevity and well-being of the citizens, promoting local development, as well as informing the citizens and raising awareness and mobilising society.

"I officially presented to the prime minister and the cabinet the result of many months of efforts at [the ministry] to draw up a 10-year plan that aims to alleviate the unfavourable consequences of the demographic crisis the country has been experiencing since the start of the '80s. The statistics and the forecast models for the demographic developments are foreboding. But we have an obligation to all make a big effort together to overcome this," she said.

Zacharaki said the aim was to create a favourable environment for families and children that will respect the citizens' wishes, support their needs and give them choices. The ultimate goal, she said, was to improve the standard of living through the planning, implementation, coordination and assessment of actions that concern all citizens at all ages and "will require the utmost from all government agencies."

The more than 100 actions envisaged under the programme will have a combined budget of 20 billion euros, including some measures already implemented since 2019.

They include action to increase the engagement of the elderly in the economy, such as employment and university education for older people, better elderly healthcare and resilience and more support services for elderly people, action to support fertility and reproductive health as well as the dissemination of information on the relevant issues.

It will also seek to dovetail with overlapping national action plans dealing with various social issues, such as those for gender equality, child poverty and exclusion, disable rights, mountain and island living and others.

Based on the findings of the 2021 census, Greece's population had declined 3.5% relative to the previous census in 2011 and by nearly 5% since 2001. Since 2011, there have been more deaths than births, which in 2022 fell below 80,000 for the first time, from 150,000 in 1980.

Half the country's population is now over 46 years old, and more than 1 in five residents of the country are over 65 and 6% are over 80.