The Issues and Challenges of Local Government Units in the Era of Population Ageing

Abstract

So far, issues related to the effects of ageing have been studied mainly from the perspective of national policy and international analyses. The study fills the research gap in this area focusing on the impact of demographic changes on the policy of local government units (LGUs). In the first section, a literature review of the research conducted so far has been performed. The empirical part contains the results of the study that was carried out on a sample of 131 municipalities of the Małopolska Voivodeship. The results obtained were subject to statistical analysis, based upon elements of descriptive statistics, cluster analysis and hierarchical clustering (k-means algorithm, Ward’s method) and statistical inference (Chi-square tests). It was found that the most important social problems identified by municipalities include in particular: demographic processes (indicated as significant by 71% of municipalities), population migrations (76%), unemployment (88%), alcoholism (93%) and poverty (75%). On the other hand, the following problems are perceived to a lesser extent: deficits in the level of education (15%) and social capital (36%), as well as participation in public (31%) and cultural (34%) life. However, only a few municipalities, mainly ones that are larger and more urbanised, see the key importance of the intensity of the ageing process (33% of cities with powiat rights, 14% of urban municipalities and only 4% of rural municipalities). Studies also indicate that in the light of the diagnosis of current problems, the greatest challenges associated with an ageing population are related to the lack of adequate financial resources, a decrease in a municipality’s income, a deteriorating situation in the local labour market, reduced family care potential, increased health care costs and social aid. It was also noted that from the municipalities’ point of view, the consequences of an ageing population will not only have a financial dimension, but will also require a certain redefinition of the catalogue of tasks to be carried out.

Implementation of Non-state Pension Provision in Ukraine in the System of Strengthening Social Protection

“…The overall goal of the non-state pension provision system is to increase the efficiency of the pension system by forming pension savings in banks (Maj-Waśniowska & Jedynak, 2020;Achkasova et al, 2021), non-state pension funds (Levchenko, 2015;Achkasova, 2018;Luchko et al, 2019;Pukala et al, 2020;Jedynak, 2022) and insurance companies (Ostrowska-Dankiewicz, 2019;Płonka et al, 2020;Polinkevych et al, 2021) for citizens to receive additional pension payments through contributions and profits to increase their social security (Lutsyshyn et al, 2019;Jedynak, 2020). In case of using the international assessment of the poverty level of the population, according to which the cost of daily consumption is set at USD 5 (up to 4300 UAH per month), then 85.4% of Ukrainian pensioners as of January 01, 2021, received a pension in the amount lower, or at the level of this limitsup to UAH 5000.…”

Activities of local government units in the popularization and promotion of a healthy lifestyle among an aging rural society – the case of Poland

“…The author claims that the challenges in this topic are greater overall for regional, rural and fringe councils compared to metropolitan. As essential task of LGUs which affects the quality of life of elderly people is providing infrastructure tailored to their needs and capabilities (Maj-Waśniowska & Jedynak, 2020).…”