1) Baby boomers, those young old people

There is an element that the European new generations have in common: it is increasingly difficultto access labour market. Aside from the considerable national differences, it remains to be understood if the young Europeans are not able to access to employment or, instead, if the old workers block their entry. We talked about it with Gerard François Dumont, professor at La Sorbonne University in Paris and director of the review Population & Avenir; he has handled with intergenerational relationships and demography in Europe for many years and coined two famous neologisms as “hiver démographique” (demographic winter) and “gerontocroissance”(the increase of old people in a given population).

In these days, everybody talks about the so-called baby boomers, since 2011 is the first year when a part of this generation will retire. Yet, the general feeling is that, although they reached the pensionable age, the power is still in their hands, especially in the Old Continent. Do not you think that this represents an actual element of conservation, a curb on the need to introduce important reforms and changes in the most part of the European countries?

The generations of the postwar demographic renewal, those who were born between 1946 and 1975, today are the largest class in the age pyramid of most part of the European countries. In accord with one of the most important demographic laws, generational law, explained in my book “Political demography”, this generation plays a fundamental role in the internal geopolitics of the countries. Indeed, it represents the most important part of the electorate, much more then the youth who not only are numerically inferior but who also proved to avoid the polls. For this reason the political class must take into account their demand for security and their difficulty of understanding the reforms that must be done. This is indisputable also in France where fertility considerably decreased in the last years. The same pension reform, voted by the French Parliament in 2010, had effects only on current pensions, that were guaranteed in this way. Another important example is the French Green Party, which became the third party after the right party (UMP) and the Socialist party, and which systematically refuses all the most ambitious projects, from high-speed trains to new airports, etc.

As far as the post-baby boom society is concerned, we only know that new generations will not have the same advantages and certainties (such a s a permanent job) as their parents. Could you tell us at least three additional aspects that will characterise the European society and, in particular, the new generations in the next years?

New generations, those who were born in the 90s and from 2000 to 2010 have three main features: firstly, those where born between 1990 and 2000 are numerically inferior. This phenomenon of reduction of births occurred also in the period 2000-2010, since, although fertility increased in the last years, the fact that the generations in fertile age are very few can cause a reduction in births. Secondly, the generations who live today in Europe come from different origins which influenced their growth. This phenomenon caused, on the one hand, most of the massive migrations that Europe has witnessed over the last years and, on the other hand, the right to family reunification. Finally, the third aspect is that today in Europe there is a minority urging for the introduction of Sharia, which would weaken or would have dire effects on women rights. This is also the effect of the two laws voted after 2000 in France: the first one, in 2004, which wanted to ban the veil in schools and the second one, in 2010, which wanted to ban the use of the full veil in all public spaces. For this reason it is necessary to stay on the watch on sex equality.

Since you are one of the world’s foremost experts on the baby boom generation, could you tell us at least one mistake that baby-boomers should have avoided in order to guarantee a better future for their children?

Baby boom generations are responsible for two serious political mistakes, already made. The first one is to have put into debt the new generations, those of their children, because of a bad economic management of the State and public services. Secondly, they did not invest money in family policies, in favour, for instance, of new housing or in a better conciliation between work and family life, which has negative trends in most part of the European countries. About this issue, I proved that the countries which have witnessed a more intense demographic winter phenomenon (a fertility rate just below the threshold of the generational replacement) are the same which have implemented family policies.