The economic challenge of age
There was an interesting lead article in Toronto's Globe and Mail (Heather Scoffield, July 18,2007) on the baby boomer retirement phenomena. Triggered by new census numbers available, the article points to a need for more training in the work force to sustain economic growth.
Some facts stated included:
- With an aging population, the work force is barely replacing retirees with new workers.
- By 2016, the workforce will shrink- since there are not enough young people to replace retirees.
- Growth rate of labour force will drop to zero in next 20 years.
- An increase in immigration and major delays in retirement would make only marginal differences in this growth rate.
- Key to economic growth "lies almost solely in boosting productivity".
It outlines that key productivity-enhancing measures would include:
- More government investment in education; and
- More corporate spending on training.
Posted by Pat Sullivan at 17:24 Permalink
