"Europeans are living longer than ever before, and the age profile of society is rapidly developing. Due to demographic ageing, the proportion of people of working age in Europe is shrinking, while the number of older people is expanding and the number of children is decreasing. Several countries have experienced a worrying reduction in the youth and working age cohorts as opposed to the exponential growth of the number of retirees, many of whom were reaching the fourth age, often associated with dependency. This pattern will continue in the next few decades, as the post-Second World War baby boom generation completes its move into retirement, while young people delay the decision to have children or reject it completely due to financial and labour constraints such as unstable employment and the housing crisis, or a constraining work-life balance, such as rising pressures at work, lack of State policies to support their work-life balance and career possibilities and discrimination against women in the workplace."