What is the ‘Problem’ of an Ageing Population?
What Is the Problem Of an Ageing Population?
Christine Loh
August 2005
What is the ‘Problem’ of an
Ageing Population?
Christine Loh
August 2005
Civic Exchange
Civic Exchange is a non-profit organisation that helps to improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.
Room 701, Hoseinee House, 69 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: (+852) 2893 0213 Fax: (+852) 3105 9713
URL: www.civic-exchange.org
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Civic Exchange. ii What is the ‘Problem’ of an Ageing Population?
‘Problem’ or crowning glory?
In Hong Kong, as in other developed economies, people are living longer and longer lives.
Yet, at the same time, fertility rates have fallen dramatically, leading to a decline in population. Indeed, Hong Kong leads the world in having the lowest per capita birth rate.
Immigration from the Mainland has also fallen in recent years. The combination of these factors has resulted in the increase of the average age of the Hong Kong population.
What impact will these factors have on society and how should public policy respond?
Should ageing be framed essentially in highly negative terms as a ‘problem’? What challenges does society face and how can they be addressed? Hong Kong’s demographic trends and the issues that need to be explored are ably summarized by Paul SF Yip,
Joseph Lee and CK Law in Hong Kong’s Challenge: Impact of Population Changes (April
2005) and will not be repeated here. 1 Similarly, the issue of Hong Kong’s highly discriminatory immigration policy and its possible longer-term impact in a rapidly globalizing world has already been noted by Christine Loh and Kee Foong in Hong Kong as ‘World City’: Assessing its Attractiveness to Global Talent (August 2005) and the issues brought up there will not be repeated in the section below on labour and productivity.2
Much of the discussion
Christine Loh
August 2005
What is the ‘Problem’ of an
Ageing Population?
Christine Loh
August 2005
Civic Exchange
Civic Exchange is a non-profit organisation that helps to improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis.
Room 701, Hoseinee House, 69 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Tel: (+852) 2893 0213 Fax: (+852) 3105 9713
URL: www.civic-exchange.org
Disclaimer
The views expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Civic Exchange. ii What is the ‘Problem’ of an Ageing Population?
‘Problem’ or crowning glory?
In Hong Kong, as in other developed economies, people are living longer and longer lives.
Yet, at the same time, fertility rates have fallen dramatically, leading to a decline in population. Indeed, Hong Kong leads the world in having the lowest per capita birth rate.
Immigration from the Mainland has also fallen in recent years. The combination of these factors has resulted in the increase of the average age of the Hong Kong population.
What impact will these factors have on society and how should public policy respond?
Should ageing be framed essentially in highly negative terms as a ‘problem’? What challenges does society face and how can they be addressed? Hong Kong’s demographic trends and the issues that need to be explored are ably summarized by Paul SF Yip,
Joseph Lee and CK Law in Hong Kong’s Challenge: Impact of Population Changes (April
2005) and will not be repeated here. 1 Similarly, the issue of Hong Kong’s highly discriminatory immigration policy and its possible longer-term impact in a rapidly globalizing world has already been noted by Christine Loh and Kee Foong in Hong Kong as ‘World City’: Assessing its Attractiveness to Global Talent (August 2005) and the issues brought up there will not be repeated in the section below on labour and productivity.2
Much of the discussion