Society at a Glance indicators spotlight social policy challenges in OECD countries

08/03/2005 - Should OECD governments spend more on tackling child poverty and less on unemployment benefits? Or focus on pension reform and the need for family-friendly policies to help parents, in particular mothers, balance a career with bringing up a child? These are among the social policy challenges spotlighted in the latest edition of the OECD's Society at a Glance. They will feature on the agenda of a meeting of OECD Social Affairs Ministers in Paris on March 31-April 1 2005.

People in OECD countries are living longer and prosperity is rising. But major social issues remain. Child poverty is on the increase, birth rates are dropping, while the proportion of senior citizens in the population will double in many OECD countries in coming years.

There are no easy answers to such challenges, and Society at a Glance does not attempt to provide them. Instead, it provides comparative data allowing OECD countries to benchmark themselves against their peers. Among other things, it reveals that, while public spending in the areas traditionally covered by social policies has declined in OECD countries over the last 10 years, private spending has risen, especially in the United States and the Netherlands. This trend is likely to continue.  

Social Affairs Ministers from OECD countries will discuss many of the topics spotlighted in Society at a Glance at their conference later this month on the theme "Extending opportunities: How active social policy can benefit us all".

• The OECD's Director for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, John Martin, will present the issues at a news conference at 11.00 a.m. on Wednesday 30 March at OECD headquarters.
• On Thursday 31 March from 3.00 p.m. to 6.00 p.m., journalists are invited to attend a Forum on the theme "What are the appropriate rights and responsibilities for different parts of society in delivering social protection?", chaired by Berit Andnor, Minister for Social Affairs of Sweden.
• A closing news briefing will be given by the Chair of the conference, Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment Aart Jan de Geus, at 1.00 p.m. on Friday 1 April.
• To register for this conference, journalists are invited to contact the OECD Media Relations Division  (tel. + 33 1 45 24 97 00). For more information, see http://www.oecd.org/socialmin2005

Society at a Glance, a biennial publication, gives an overview of social trends and policy developments using indicators taken from OECD studies and other sources. The indicators include numbers of jobless households; marriage and divorce rates; life expectancy; retirement ages; unemployment; drug use and drug-related deaths; foreigners living in OECD countries; contacts with family and friends; and life satisfaction.

• Journalists can obtain a copy of this publication via the Password-protected Web site  for accredited journalists or from the OECD's Media Relations Division (tel. + 33 1 45 24 97 00).
• Non-journalists can download the raw data underlying each indicator and find out how to obtain a copy of this publication here.
  

For further information, journalists are invited to contact Mark Pearson (tel. + 33 1 45 24 92 69) or Marco Mira D'Ercole (tel. + 33 1 45 24 87 48) in the OECD's Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Directorate.

CORRIGENDUM
Please note that the Social Expenditure figures given for Mexico on pages 25, 61 and 65 are not comparable with those given for other countries. The Mexican government is in the process of seeking to establish comparable figures and these will be communicated as soon as possible.