I’m not well versed in the topic, but this sounds like a contradiction to me. I have not seen it addressed anywhere.
1. The issue with an aging population is that there are not enough young people working to support the elderly. But if there are not enough working-age people, then shouldn’t youth unemployment (and in general), be low? (I do get the idea of skill-job mismatch, but one also has to be employed to gain skills)
Eg in China, they have an aging population, and fewer working-age people due to the one-child policy, but youth unemployment is high.
2. If youth unemployment is high, doesn’t it suggest that there are too many young people? If there are too many young people, then why is low fertility a problem? (I do understand that low fertility and youth unemployment are one generation apart though)
Thanks.
In: Economics
Your missing X here is job opportunity and salary .
On most countries facing this problem there are jobs, it’s just that most jobs pay abysmally as most countries just don’t have a proper minimum age laws like the USA or don’t scale that minimum age to the inflation.
So we have a much poorer youth overall that simply will not buy or produce as much and be stuck with 1-2 jobs to keep itself a float. This also makes it stressfull to even consider starting a family no only because of the low income but because both parents have to generally keep working to keep a respectful living condition.
All the while a major portion of the population is now retired and IN ECONOMY TERMS produce nothing and add nothing to the economy.
The crux of this starts and ends with young works even at lower jobs have access to enough money to a good living condition and laws for them to safely have children without fear of going bankrupt
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