VEM BÄR KOSTNADEN FÖR EN ÅLDRANDE BEFOLKNING? En studie om åldrande befolkningars effekt på statsbudgetar

Abstract

The world is rapidly aging, and many of the countries with the world's oldest populations are OECD-countries. The effects this has on countries economically are immense and it is well established by researchers that more resources have been and will be given to elder care and health care as a result of this. Research on what other parts of a country's budget have lost funding because of this is not well documented and if this budget prioritization looks different depending on the type of welfare state. The following study investigates how an aging population leads to deprioritization of four budget areas by analyzing the OECD-countries through a panel regression over a 30 year time period. The results of this study showed that only the budget for schools is significantly deprioritized as a result of an aging population and the rate of the deprioritization differs between liberal and conservative welfare states. The results of this study could not certify that the three other budget areas, public administration, housing and defence gets different funding as a result of an aging population. This paper's results together with earlier research indicate countries with the same welfare state act similarly in how they prioritize but not deprioritize budget areas in response to population aging.