Tag: Birth Rates

As Asian Societies Age, ‘Retirement’ Just Means More Work

Chin@Strategy

To cope with what demographers call “super aging societies,” policymakers in East Asia initially focused on trying to spur births and tinkering with immigration laws to shore up work forces. Such measures have done little to alter the aging trend line, as fertility rates have plunged and many countries have resisted large-scale immigration plans. That has left employers desperate for workers. In Japan, for example, surveys show that as many as half of companies report shortages of full-time workers. Older workers have stepped in to fill the gaps. “We have…

U.S. Population Growth Has Nearly Flatlined. Is That So Bad?

Chin@Strategy

This article is part of the Debatable newsletter. You can sign up here to receive it on Wednesdays. “A Demographic Crisis.” “A Blinking Light Ahead.” “The Death of Hope.” Those are some of the dire headlines that have been written in recent years about the sluggish pace of U.S. population growth, which in 2021 fell to its lowest rate ever — just 0.1 percent. While the pandemic played a major role in driving last year’s decline, the country’s population growth has been slowing for much of the last decade, depressed…

China’s Divorce Rate Is Down, but So Are Marriages

Chin@Strategy

HONG KONG — Faced with a soaring divorce rate, the ruling Communist Party in China introduced a rule last year to keep unhappy marriages together by forcing couples to undergo a 30-day “cooling off” period before finalizing a divorce. The rule appears to have worked, according to government statistics released this week, which show a steep drop in divorce filings in 2021. Local officials have hailed the new rule as a success in the country’s effort to grow families and curb a demographic crisis threatening China’s economy. But the party…