Europe is undergoing significant demographic shifts, that call, among other things, for strengthening long-term care (LTC) systems. The European Centre is once more contributing to related policy discussions through an updated report on Facts and Figures on Long-Term Care and Healthy Ageing. This report provides comparative data on ageing and the state of LTC. Needs, funding, workforce trends and challenges are highlighted as well as the role of informal care, inequalities, unmet needs, and the impact of digital transformation and climate change.

The Bridge Building (BB) Peer Review Report on Fighting Undeclared Work was developed within the European Centre's Bridge Building Initiative to follow up on the successful implementation of the project BB Peer Reviews and Training—Mutual Learning Activities in BB countries (06/2021 – 03/2024).

The policy brief summarises the key findings of a related study funded by the ÖNB-Jubiläumsfonds (project number 18785). Analysis of EU-SILC data showed that at-risk-of-poverty and material deprivation of children increased during the pandemic, and that the effects intensified for traditionally vulnerable children. However, tax-benefit microsimulation (model EUROMOD) proved that COVID-19-induced policies and automatic stabilisers were partly effective in preventing a steeper increase in child poverty. Analysis of hypothetical reforms revealed that a transfer to children in low-income families would have been most cost-effective in preventing it further, pointing to a characteristic trade-off in policy design between means-tested and universal benefits.

This review and discussion article is based on a literature review of selected materials and is devoted to the role of research agendas in linking research and policy in the field of ageing and longevity. After emphasizing the importance of research evidence in international policy frameworks on ageing and defining the main parameters of research agendas, the authors turn to describing how research agendas can play a key role in bridging research and policy on population ageing and individual longevity. Examples of international (global), regional and national research agendas are presented. Finally, the authors reflect on the benefits and current limitations of research agendas in supporting evidence-based policy and highlight the potential role of research agendas in developing appropriate and timely responses to the challenges and opportunities of population ageing and individual longevity.

In this article, the authors examine information provision, access to rules on posting, and rule compliance by companies from the perspective of information providers and users in Austria.