The Impact of Demographic Change on Labor Supply and Economic Growth: Can Asia Meet the Challenge Ahead?

Some member-nations of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) will see their working-age population grow or slightly decline by 2050; others will see them shrink. Several APEC countries rely on migration to expand their labor force and GDP. The labor force participation rates among people aged 50-64 and women aged 15-64 are expected to rise in almost all APEC member countries by 2050, and affect the growth in GDP per worker. Policies should focus on migration, resolving bilateral issues, the health and training of elderly workers, child care, and gender wage gap.

Peter McDonald

Peter McDonald is Emeritus Professor of Demography in the Crawford School of Public Policy. He was President of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP) for the years, 2010-2013. He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and an inaugural Public Policy Fellow of the ANU. He is frequently consulted on the issue of population futures (causes, consequences and policies) by governments around the world, especially in Australia, Europe and East Asia. In 2008, he was appointed as a Member in the Order of Australia.

Protap Mukherjee

Protap Mukherjee is a Quantitative Research Coordinator at Young Lives India and works on education, child labor, and poverty. He obtained his master's degree in Geography from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and a masters degree in Population Studies from the International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai. He also has research experience at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

Ngu Wah Win

Ngu Wah Win is presently working as senior policy coordinator at the Centre for Economic and Social Development, in independent thinktank dedicated to inclusive development in Myanmar. Ngu Wah contributed to many reform initiatives in Myanmar, including public financial management and tax reforms, agriculture value chain developments, labor market and migration governance, and housing and urban planning initiatives.