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Ageing populations and hidden unemployment
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In most parts of the world people live longer and healthier lives than they did a century ago. Longer lifespans, along with declining birth rates, mean that there are growing numbers of ‘old’ people in many developed countries in relation to the younger working population expected to support them in their old age. But much analysis of this issue has overlooked two inconvenient truths. The first is that young people also grow old and will in turn need to be supported, and the second is that raising average world fertility would lead to even faster and more unsustainable population growth. So the world has no choice but to welcome ageing populations.