370)this.width=370">
Population growth seems to have dropped off the public agenda these days. One reason for this is a twist in the old Malthusian argument that sees the rising proportion of persons of working age as a positive for growth.
This shift in the age-distribution, it is argued, will stimulate savings as pressure on household and public budgets for the needs of dependent children comes down. Young workers are assumed to be more willing to take chances and be ready to migrate where opportunity is available.
To the extent to which the demographic dividend also reflects the impact of reduced birth rates, women would be less weighed down by child-bearing and -rearing and more available for work.
All of these arguments are plausible and consistent with the experience of Asian countries that have gone through a similar demographic dividend phase.
The counter-example of Latin America, where this phase of demographic evolution did not lead to high growth, should warn us though that there is nothing automatic about the connection and that a lot depends on whether policies and programmes are in place to stimulate job-creating growth and provide the growing number of workers with the skills
No comments:
Post a Comment