How generations and gender shape demographic change

Since 2000, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has coordinated the Generations and Gender Programme, which combines data collection with analysis of demographic trends and the roles of different factors that influence them, that of public policy in particular. This volume contains the keynote papers and a summary of contributions to the Conference on How Generations and Gender Shape Demographic Change, held in Geneva in May 2008, as well as the conceptual background note and the Conference report. It aims to disseminate the Conference proceedings to a wider audience, thereby inspiring broader debate. Recent European data suggest that many more people of reproductive age would like to form families and have children than actually do so, and many parents would like to have more children than they have. What role should public policy play regarding these issues? Should reconciling work and family life be the main avenue of policy? Concurrent with lower birth rates, European populations are ageing, which requires adaptation across all spheres of society. What are the best policy responses to these demographic trends, and how can research better support finding them?