Has it ever crossed your mind what Australia’s population is going to look like by the year 2050? It is possible that it would have a really large number of retirees that are getting older by the year unless of course, we make sure that the immigration levels are maintained, if it is not increased, so that Australia’s rate of ageing is slowed down. This, according to a recent report made by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) of Australia.
There is a simple reason behind this, said Professor Peter McDonald at an interview with the SBS. According to him, through migration, young labour is readily introduced to the economy, and it also deals with the dilemma of the ageing population of Australia. Professor McDonald is a well-respected demographer in Australia.
The Migration Council of Australia also released a report last year saying that our country needs to attract more skilled migrants of two hundred fifty thousand a year to boost the economy and sustain population and economy growth in the future.
With the present policies in migration focussing on skilled migration, what the migration program of Australia continuously and systematically introduces is working aged adults with the necessary skills so that the economy is given the boost that it needs and deal wth the ageing population of the country. What is really dangerous is the fact that the population of Australia is getting older and older and in the process, more and more people are leaving the workforce which means that the Real GDP per capita of Australia could fall if no improvements are made in labour productivity.
“You have to run harder with the productivity component, or make us a little bit younger,” said Professor McDonald. ”You do that through migration. Or, you can keep people working of course too.”
The Professor also explained that the shift in the population distribution of Australia is mainly because of rates. ”The Australian birth rate was high during the Baby Boomer years,” he explained. ”From the nineteen seventies onwards, the birth rate went to a lower level.”; The Baby Boomers, as what Professor McDonald told the SBS, was able to make a large under-twenties bulge during the seventies however, that generation have already started on the age of retirement, and will continue onto the period of retirement over the next decade.
But it’s not only that, as we are also living longer, he also shared.
“We are much more likely to be living into the eighties and the nineties than we have in the past.”
The Professor also said that the older generation of today used to be healthier compared to the older generations of the times past, thanks in part to the less heavy smoking and drinking throughout the lifetimes of these individuals.
People now have more access to medical care and drugs, and this has given our society the chance to take control of diseases more effectively. This makes all the difference as it is considered a very important development in our times.
