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IZA Tower Talk - Report
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Generations and Integration: The Future Challenges of Politics
NRW Minister Armin Laschet Speaks at the IZA Tower Talk |
| Armin Laschet (CDU), Minister for Inter-Generation and Family Affairs, Women and Integration of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, gave a speech at the 17th IZA Tower Talk on May 9 2007. His ministry is the first in Germany to combine the important issues of inter-generational demographic changes, family-oriented policies and integration. Laschet spoke on the enormous consequences of Germany’s aging society, which range from the absence of young professionals and the loss of economic vitality to a massive shift in power for the democratic process. Political reforms, Laschet said, must react to these changes. For example, they must ensure that families and youth still have lobbyists in the future, despite their shrinking proportion in the total population. At the same time, according to Laschet, a focus must be placed on increased life expectancy, which will add more than two decades of individual life performance and consumption to the older population. The aging population will not only want to actively participate in social life, they will also become a major economic factor, he emphasized. “The producers of children’s toys will need to deal with shrinking markets in the future, while firms that develop special products and services for the older generation will have excellent market opportunities.”
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Laschet commented on the necessity to improve the compatibility of family and employment, given that the existing supply is well below demand. According to the Minister, an active selection of immigrants based upon economic criteria must take place. Previous immigration legislation is not enough, because it has only resulted in a negligible number of highly-qualified immigrants. “The elites of the world have not come to us so far,” Laschet said. A reduction of barriers would make sense in order to stimulate the domestic labor market. |
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| Future educational policies are also of special interest for an aging society. The existing potential of young children is to be promoted in order to avoid a further loss of human capital. As a concrete example of policy action, Laschet cited the obligatory language test for four year-old children, which was recently introduced in North Rhine-Westphalia. The test measures the language deficits of both foreign and German children in order to address their problems at a young age. Of the same importance for Laschet – albeit an issue that has offered less hope for success – are the training opportunities for young workers without a high school diploma. Laschet and Hilmar Schneider, IZA Director of Labor Policy, both agreed on the fundamental need for action, referencing a quote from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa: “If you want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.” |
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