Demographic Change And Policy Responses

This paper discusses the role of fiscal policy and demographics. By the end of this century, about two-thirds of all countries are expected to have declining populations. This will have profound implications for economics, financial markets, social stability, and geopolitics. Fiscal policy responses and technological innovation are especially important parts of the solution. Without action, public pension and health systems will not be sustainable over the long term. The increase in life expectancy and economic welfare that came with the industrial revolution brought with it the seeds of demographic change. This is a demographic double whammy that will have major implications for economic growth, financial stability, and the public purse. With declining fertility rates, populations in some advanced economies did not just grow more slowly; they stagnated or began to shrink. IMF analysis suggests that, if everyone lived three years longer than expected, pension related costs could increase by 50 percent in both advanced and emerging economies. This would heavily affect private and public sector balance sheets and could also undermine financial stability.

This report highlights the issues faced by local areas against the backdrop of policies or planning models that have directed local development in the past decades.

"The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic marks the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II, with health, economic, political, and security implications that will ripple for years to come." -Global Trends 2040 (2021) Global Trends 2040-A More Contested World (2021), released by the US National Intelligence Council, is the latest report in its series of reports starting in 1997 about megatrends and the world's future. This report, strongly influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic, paints a bleak picture of the future and describes a contested, fragmented and turbulent world. It specifically discusses the four main trends that will shape tomorrow's world: - Demographics-by 2040, 1.4 billion people will be added mostly in Africa and South Asia. - Economics-increased government debt and concentrated economic power will escalate problems for the poor and middleclass. - Climate-a hotter world will increase water, food, and health insecurity. - Technology-the emergence of new technologies could both solve and cause problems for human life. Students of trends, policymakers, entrepreneurs, academics, journalists and anyone eager for a glimpse into the next decades, will find this report, with colored graphs, essential reading.

Although demographic change has been a widely discussed topic for decades, its scope, social impact and related policy responses leave us with many unresolved social issues. Demographic change is a reality for all European societies but the ways in which it is taking place differ from country to country. Active ageing both as a concept and policy response to the demographic ageing of populations has been widely debated, researched and utilised, informing both policy and practice, and providing a common narrative framework to ageing. However, there continues to be a lack of clarity around the precise meaning of ‘active ageing’. This book explores the way in which social work is critically engaging with the theme of active ageing, in light of, or maybe as a reaction to, the policy responses witnessed within the context of large-scale and rapid demographic change. This book was originally published as a special issue of the European Journal of Social Work.

The United States is in the midst of a major demographic shift. In the coming decades, people aged 65 and over will make up an increasingly large percentage of the population: The ratio of people aged 65+ to people aged 20-64 will rise by 80%. This shift is happening for two reasons: people are living longer, and many couples are choosing to have fewer children and to have those children somewhat later in life. The resulting demographic shift will present the nation with economic challenges, both to absorb the costs and to leverage the benefits of an aging population. Aging and the Macroeconomy: Long-Term Implications of an Older Population presents the fundamental factors driving the aging of the U.S. population, as well as its societal implications and likely long-term macroeconomic effects in a global context. The report finds that, while population aging does not pose an insurmountable challenge to the nation, it is imperative that sensible policies are implemented soon to allow companies and households to respond. It offers four practical approaches for preparing resources to support the future consumption of households and for adapting to the new economic landscape.

Since 2000, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) has coordinated the Generations and Gender Programme, which combines data collection with analysis of demographic trends and the roles of different factors that influence them, that of public policy in particular. This volume contains the keynote papers and a summary of contributions to the Conference on How Generations and Gender Shape Demographic Change, held in Geneva in May 2008, as well as the conceptual background note and the Conference report. It aims to disseminate the Conference proceedings to a wider audience, thereby inspiring broader debate. Recent European data suggest that many more people of reproductive age would like to form families and have children than actually do so, and many parents would like to have more children than they have. What role should public policy play regarding these issues? Should reconciling work and family life be the main avenue of policy? Concurrent with lower birth rates, European populations are ageing, which requires adaptation across all spheres of society. What are the best policy responses to these demographic trends, and how can research better support finding them?

A flurry of extreme weather events, together with projections that grow more somber with every new scientific advance, have dramatically highlighted the need to respond more effectively to the threats already upon humankind. In the midst of a rapidly expanding global adaptation agenda, it is of primary importance to get adaptation and its constituent parts right, in order to generate the most appropriate and effective interventions. Adapting to episodes after they occur is no longer sufficient; we increasingly need to anticipate and reduce the suffering and the enormously damaging impacts of potential coming events. This book addresses a major gap in adaptation efforts to date by pointing to the vital role that an understanding of population dynamics and an extensive use of demographic data have in developing pre-emptive and effective adaptation policies and practices. Politics and an oversimplified understanding of demographic dynamics have long kept population issues out of serious discussions in the framework of climate negotiations. Within adaptation actions, however, this is beginning to change, and this volume is intended to provide a framework for taking that change forward, towards better, more evidence-based adaptation. It provides key concepts linking demography and adaptation, data foundations and techniques for analyzing climate vulnerability, as well as case studies where these concepts and analyses illuminate who is vulnerable and how to help build their resilience.