The older Bulgaria's population gets, the more each worker matters to the labour market, labour and social policy minister Natalia Efremova said at a conference where the World Bank presented its interim review of Bulgaria's demographic strategy, the ministry's press office said.
Adjusting to demographic change has to go hand in hand with the labour market, the minister said. Age, a lack of the right skills or health problems should not stop people who want to work and can work from doing so.
Policy shouldn't just keep people in the labour market but keep them active, productive and motivated, so they stay part of society, Efremova said.
"Demographic policy isn't about numbers or statistics. It's about people," she said. Birth rates, death rates, employment levels, an ageing population and emptying regions are how demographics get measured, but behind those numbers are real people's lives, the minister said.
Efremova pointed to young people deciding whether to stay in the country, families deciding whether and when to have children, and older people deciding whether and how to keep working. Demographic policy isn't down to one ministry alone — it's about the country's future, she said.
Supporting parents and families means real programmes and money from the budget, plus ways to combine work and parenting and flexible types of jobs, the minister said. The aim of all this is security and predictability.
An ageing population is a challenge for the social system, but also a chance, Efremova said. She spoke about long-term care and expanding the network of social services, saying care needs to come on time, be affordable, good quality and as close to people as possible. "Caring for people is, above all, an investment," the minister added.
Over recent years that investment has built hundreds of new social services and upgraded existing ones for older people, including with EU money and funding from the Recovery and Resilience Plan, she said.
Efremova also talked about the gap between regions and about parts of the country losing population. Demographic problems need the government, local authorities and business working together, so people have jobs, room to grow and access to good public services wherever they live, the minister said.
A few days ago Efremova took part in talks on a report by UN secretary-general António Guterres on progress in the social and solidarity economy. The talks were held at the UN General Assembly's 81st session in New York.