A silver future for Poland

Baby boomers are often talked of as an existential threat to Europe’s economic prosperity and welfare state model. The population of men and women born in the mid-1940s to mid-60s, who are now in their 60s, 70s and 80s, is calculated by the World Health Organization to have overtaken people younger than 15 in Europe this year, and it is estimated people over 65 will make up more than 30% of the EU’s population by 2100. They are forecast to leave workplaces understaffed and healthcare services overwhelmed. Economists talk of them in terms of natural catastrophes (“the silver tsunami”) or acts of terrorism (“the demographic bomb”). Journalist for The Guardian, Philip Oltermann, writes about a polish initiative in Wrocław, Poland’s fourth largest city.

That city is not keeping its elderly citizens at arm’s length, but hugging them close. At the annual “march of hats”, they are invited to parade through the city in festive attire and extravagant headgear. The point of the gathering is to challenge what behaviour is considered appropriate for old age. “We want to give the seniors of Wrocław a chance to show a different face: not grey and sad, but dignified and elegant,” says Robert Pawliszko, the head of Wrocław’s senior centre, who has been involved in organising the march of hats for 15 years. And this initiative inspires other European countries.

Photos © Róbert Németi for The Guardian
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