Too little movement costs society billions of euros annually. It threatens our national economy.
Of working age our population is aging and shrinking. This fact threatens the sustainability of our welfare society.
The weakening of the population dependency ratio means that there are more and more dependents per one working-age person. The reduction of the age groups produces a net reduction in the number of the working-age population of 11,500 people annually until the 2050s. Since the young age groups are almost a quarter smaller than the older ones, long working careers are expected from the generations entering the working life.
In terms of our sustainability, an even more essential indicator is the financial maintenance ratio, which is eased by high employment and productivity growth. As employment increases, dependency on subsidies and public spending will decrease, and as productivity increases, the state of our economy will improve. Although Finland's statistical employment rate and the number of employed people have reached the highest level in our economic history in recent years, the number of unemployed people has not decreased. Broad unemployment has persistently remained at the level of almost 370,000 people. About a quarter of them have been unemployed for more than a year. Most of them are only partially able to work.
The workforce the supply is reduced by sickness absences and a large number of early retirements. Almost 18,000 people go on disability pension every year, 6,000 of them at the beginning of their working career due to mental health reasons and an equal number due to musculoskeletal diseases. There are already 200,000 of them in total, and a return to working life is not very likely.
Due to the aging age structure and incapacity for work, we lose approximately 30,000 people from the working-age population every year. Although immigration partly compensates for the departure, it does not reduce the number of dependents. We have a growing number of dependents of working age who are partially or completely absent from working life for the time being.
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The working-age population is aging and shrinking.
The sad ones the figures are based on the declining physical condition of Finns for decades and the increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity. Over the last 45 years, the stamina of a young man starting military service has deteriorated by an average of 14 percent, and at the same time the proportion of bad results has increased more than eightfold.
Muscle condition has also weakened. The reason is reduced movement and weight gain. The average weight of a man starting military service is eight kilograms higher than three decades ago. The weakened fitness and weight problems of the younger age groups challenge Finns' ability to work, because during the working career, endurance fitness decreases by about a quarter.
According to a study published in the spring, about two percent of 50-year-old men will have a good endurance condition in 2040, only half a percent of 60-year-old men. The course of development is a threat to our national economy. A quarter of people of working age say that they exercise at least at a level corresponding to the recommendations for exercise. The annual costs of around 4.7 billion euros come from too little movement and too much sitting and other immobility.
That's about it is not due to a lack of information, and not necessarily a lack of resources either, because the endurance condition was good just a few decades ago. Acquiring education and professional skills as well as taking care of movement and nutrition are the basis of our ability to work.
In preparation for last winter's energy crisis, we were able to reduce electricity consumption by up to 15 percent. Likewise, we could increase awareness of nurturing health and working capacity and our own responsibility in this. It must be ensured that an active lifestyle is already adopted as a child.
Health promotion and disease prevention infrastructure must be built in municipalities and welfare areas alongside the SOTE reform. Employers, occupational health care and occupational pension insurance companies must take care of the workforce. Our scarce rehabilitation funds must be directed effectively to the groups and individuals who benefit most from these actions.
Elina Pylkkänen is Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Labor and Economy. Tommi Vasankari is a director at UKK Institute.
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