Gamechanger in EU demography: Working-from-home economy

13 Pages Posted: 18 Nov 2021

See all articles by Tado Juric

Tado Juric

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Date Written: October 9, 2021

Abstract

The pro-natalist policies in most EU member states have not led to a demographic improvement in the expected effect. Since all possibilities for the demographic revitalisation of Europe are either unrealistic or politically unacceptable to all members, we believe that the measure we propose below is the only realistic option that could lead to an improvement in the demographic picture of the EU in the short term. This paper will show that “working-from-home economy” or remote work could be a proper demographic answer on facing the EU demographic challenges. Namely, this form of the economy would enable the revival of many of Europe’s depopulated regions, especially the EU periphery. Working-from-home economy or remote work could be a valuable demographic measure that could slow the brain drain from the EU periphery. This measure could repopulate large abandoned areas of the EU periphery and revival suburbs and rural areas. This would undoubtedly achieve a better distribution of the population at the level of the entire EU. The key idea is to allow relocation permits to workers who want to relocate to the periphery and work remotely. This measure could give new impetus to abandoned or demographically vulnerable areas, reduce brain drain, and offer workers to flee cities with a high cost of living or find more space to spread out. In this way, remote work gives people more options for where they live, reducing the necessity to live near large metropolitan city centres to maximise career potential. However, this measure certainly has severe limitations that require adapting legislation at the EU level and several other adjustments.

Keywords: working-from-home economy; EU periphery, the demographic measure, EU demographics

JEL Classification: J

Suggested Citation

Juric, Tado, Gamechanger in EU demography: Working-from-home economy (October 9, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3939382 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3939382

Tado Juric (Contact Author)

affiliation not provided to SSRN

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