Article: Aging Population Rates Affecting Economies of Asian Countries
Hi guys! Though our topic may be mitigating the effects of population growth in Asia, I felt it would be important to look at the success rates of many different techniques implemented in these countries as well as the current population trajectory's effects on the economies of many nations.
The article can be found here.
While Asian states are known for being densely populated, the East Asian region currently holds 36% of the world's population that is over the age of 65. This means that, by the year 2040, East Asia could lose as much as 15% of their current workforce, or around 211 million people - and the numbers continue to rise.
The World Bank has claimed that the reason for this rapid aging is because of economic development in many Asian countries; better living conditions have lead to a change in social values and longer life expectancies. Coupled with dangerous legislative changes, like the one child policy in China, this has dramatically slowed economic growth, as health care and social welfare costs to the governments of nations like Japan have greatly increased.
In order to combat some of these issues, Singapore turned to immigration as a means of fixing the work shortage, and its current population is now comprised of around 20% non native individuals. This may work in nations where English is a common second language, but in countries like Japan and South Korea, language barriers prevent many foreign people from entering the workforce in these countries.
The UN has attempted to combat this issue through a few key steps, such as encouraging women to enter the workforce in afflicted nations, changing pension rates, and updating healthcare laws. But it is still worried about the overall trajectory of the region, as East Asia is undergoing a massive demographic shift that has never been seen before.
With this in mind, it is important to consider economic solutions to addressing such pressing matters. What steps can be taken to combat the negative economic effects of methods to reduce population, like the One Child Policy in China? Is there any way to bolster the diminishing workforce of East Asian countries given language barriers and economic constraints of immigrants?
The country of Ethiopia, a recognized member of African Union (AU) sees the struggle in economic development in Asia and believes that rather than addressing overpopulation it is more practical to work on sustaining the resources and economy based on a country’s population. Through creating a more sustainable economy the ability to further resolve the issue of population mitigation in Asia can be addressed. Ethiopia looks forward to sharing the various and multifaceted economic solutions in committee in order to resolve this issue.
ReplyDeleteOver the past sixty years, Botswana has been very successful in stabilizing their country’s population through economic stabilization. They have accomplished this through poverty reduction, the spread of education, the advantage of natural resources, and health centers which improved and decreased the percentage of people with HIV/AIDS. Education has been the most effective because it was stated by Mark Montgomery that it leads to lower birth rates and slows population growth. This makes it easier for countries to develop. Along with this gender equality and women’s empowerment has been a key factor in reducing the overall poverty rate in Botswana. By further implementing similar concepts to India, Indonesia, and Bangladesh, since they inquire the most prevalent population issues, we will be able to implement successful solutions into Asia.
ReplyDeleteThe nation of France strongly believes on incorporating solutions towards economic development towards Asian nations. In doing so, France believes the international community should prioritize incorporating solutions towards sustainability as a main source of economic prosperity, seeing as how nations including Malaysia and Bangladesh are in economic despair. The French Republic, alongside support by the European Union, has previously incorporated government-backed frameworks, that emphasize the need to include empowerment towards all groups as we believe it would lead to greater representation within the workforce, empowering many impoverished communities. With this idea in mind, France is confident the mitigation crisis in Asia could further be alleviated.
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