Håkan Nyman European Commission DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities

1. EAPN Seminar: 2010 and beyond – the legacy we want! Getting Progress on an EU without poverty and social exclusion Using EU instruments to support a fairer distribution of wealth - Promoting better indicators for progress / beyond GDP Håkan Nyman European Commission DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities Unit E1: Demography and social analysis Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

2. Outline • Outline • Context • Existing instruments • Development of new indicators • Indicators within the Open Method of Coordination (OMC) • Beyond GDP • Household wealth Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

3. Context • Context • Aggregate wealth consist of both income and assets • Fairly good picture of the distribution of income in the EU due to the Community Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) • Less is known about the distribution of household wealth Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

4. Existing instruments • Main tools for monitoring the Social Situation in • the EU • The Social Situation Reports • The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) • Indicators • Joint Report on Social Protection and Social Inclusion • Other tools • The Employment Committee • Indicators • Employment in Europe Reports • Cohesion Reports • Regional dimension Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

5. Existing instruments • The Social Situation Reports • Joint DG EMPL and Eurostat annual publication • Part 1: in-depth analyses on a specific theme: • Social dimensions of geographical mobility • Demographic challenges • Intergenerational transmission of disadvantages • Social participation • Part 2: statistical portraits on various social dimensions including key indicators Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

6. Existing instruments • The OMC • 14 overarching indicators (+11 context indicators) and of the three strands: • Social inclusion • Income inequality, relative poverty, standard of living • Regional cohesion • Labour market, Educational outcome • Material deprivation (recently agreed) • Housing (currently being discussed) • Unmet need for care • Child-well being (to be developed) • Pensions • Social protection systems • Pension adequacy • Health and long-term care • Health outcome, inequality and access Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

7. Development of better indicators • Beyond GDP • Economic indicators such as GDP were never designed to be comprehensive measures of well-being. • Need to be complemented with other dimensions and • distributional aspects • Adequate indicators are needed to address global challenges such as climate change, poverty, resource depletion and health. Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

8. Development of better indicators • Distribution of household wealth: • important information on household’s financial situation • source of support during periods of low income (old age) • a security for uncertainties in life • The distribution of wealth may have as great an impact on social cohesion as income inequality • Increasing wealth gap may lead to a divided society and may not be sustainable in the long run Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

9. Development of better indicators • Distribution of household wealth • Data and research (1) • Luxemburg Wealth Study (LWS) • Harmonised national data on household level • (AT, CY, FI, DE, IT, SE, UK + Canada, Norway and US) • Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) • Research under the 6th and 7th FP • Wave 1: AT, BE, DK, FR, DE, EL, IT, NL, ES, SE and Switzerland.Wave 2: + CZ, IE, PL • Aim to include all EU countries (FI, HU, PT and SL are scheduled to participate) Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

10. Development of better indicators • Distribution of household wealth • Data and research (2) • The Eurosystem Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) • household-level data on household finances and consumption • The HFCS will cover the following household characteristics at micro level: • demographics • real and financial assets • liabilities • consumption and saving • income and employment • future pension entitlements, intergenerational transfers and gifts • risk attitudes Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

11. Development of better indicators • Distribution of household wealth • Data and research (3) • Demographic change and Housing Wealth (DEMHOW) • Research under the 7th FP • investigate how the composition of wealth has changed with respect to changes in population, housing systems, state pension arrangements, and financial institutions. • investigate how attitudes toward the acquisition of housing assets and their use  in old age are changing, particularly given that fewer people have children. • identify past and future developments in financial markets, particularly in relation to equity release products • identify past and future developments in national and EU public policies in relation to the growth of home ownership and the use of housing equity in old age. • identify the characteristics of pension systems based on housing assets Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit

12. Development of better indicators • Conclusions • New and better EU indicators are being developed • But the work is moving slowly • Comparative data • How to define the indicators Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities ─ Unit