News / Economic Divide

Ageing and pension shortfalls: Global time bombs

Thursday, 22 August 2019 1:16 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 22 August 2019 1:54 AM ]

Studies show the number of people born in the US is the lowest in the last 32 years. Roughly 3.8 million babies were born in the United States last year. But it fell for the fourth consecutive year. It was 2 percent lower than 2017. The decline is so sharp that the nation's population would be reportedly declining without immigration.

In 2017, the fertility rate was nearly 16 percent below the necessary rate to keep the population stable. Only the two states of South Dakota and Utah had birth rates above replacement levels. Washington DC had the lowest birth rate, with 1421 for 1000 women in their childbearing age.

Americans still suffer from The Great Recession in 2008, which has made it harder for people who are now in their 20s and 30s to get married. They can hardly establish a career or buy a home. Marriage, work and accommodation should often be accomplished before starting a family. An evidence is the fewer teenage pregnancies. A significant number of American young women tend to acquire higher education, hoping to get a better jobs, by which they can make enough money to live in comfort. They are therefore so occupied by the work that they cannot think of raising, or even having children.

The economic uncertainty and job instability are major factors to put off the children. The issue of aging has become a considerable concern to the top policymakers of the major economies. The member states of G20 are disturbed by the issues relating to ageing and shrinking birth rates. In their recent meeting in Japan, G20 finance ministers and central bank presidents addressed the issue.

The G20 is a collection of the various stages of population profiles. It includes rapidly-ageing countries like Japan, the US, Germany and the UK, and young nations such as Saudi Arabia, Mexico and Indonesia. Members like Japan shared their experiences, warning that the nations must act, before population ageing piles pressure on the economy. They warned the finance ministers, not health ministers, must take the lead. Longer life-expectancy and low birth rates among the wealthy member states have resulted in a rapid expansion of the elderly population.

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