Economics of Population Ageing: Factors and Dynamics

The growth and productivity of any country rest on the pool of human resource it has. The contemporary threat to this human resource asset is seen in the form of ageing which has been altering the demographic structure of most of the developed world and the threat is fast catching up with the developing world too. The sources of population ageing lie in two (possibly related) demographic phenomena: rising life expectancy and declining fertility. The ‘Demographic Window’, enjoyed by some of the Asian countries like China, for the time being is fast closing up, throwing up deep challenges to adapt to the changing population scenario. Some of the important economic implications can be seen in the form of low savings potential, increased health care costs adding burden to public spending, inadequate pension plan regulations and reduced productivity owing to the growing number of old people compared to the young. Ageing has also led to a talent crunch as the number of old people leaving the workforce is more than the addition of the younger lot entering it in countries like the UK, Germany and Australia. As a result, these countries are encouraging immigration as one of the solutions to attract more people to mitigate the population and productivity decline. The pressure build-up on the ‘sandwiched generation’, demand for professional caregiver personnel and sprouting of retirement communities are some of the social aspects touched upon in this book. The aim of the book is to gain an insight into the trends of population ageing around the world. The book addresses the growing concerns amongst the nations which are plagued by the ageing phenomenon.