March 2026
04Mar

How South Korea nudged its birth rate back up – and what Singapore can learn

As Singapore's birth rate hits a historic low, South Korea's modest but notable rebound offers a ray of hope and possible lessons, experts said. Singapore's total fertility rate (TFR) fell to 0.87 in 2025, parliament was told on Thursday (Feb 26), continuing a slide that first pushed the country below 1.0 in 2023. A TFR below one means the average woman has less than one child in her lifetime – far below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to keep the population from...

March 4, 2026
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02Mar

Europe must close the rights gap for migrants and asylum seekers with disabilities

Migrants and asylum seekers with disabilities continue to face systemic exclusion from protection, support, and integration systems across the European Union, despite the EU’s human rights obligations. In response, IRAP and EDF have jointly launched a new policy brief, “A Pact That Excludes: Closing the Protection Gap for Migrants and Asylum Seekers with Disabilities in the European Union,” showing that EU migration and asylum systems remain largely inaccessible and discriminatory for people with disabilities. This briefing analyses the EU Pact on Migration and...

March 2, 2026
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February 2026
20Feb

Impact of iImmigration on the Japanese Economy: A Multi-Country Simulation Model

By Manabu Shimasawa To quantify the impacts of immigration and fiscal reconstruction on the Japanese economy, we present a dynamic computable general equilibrium OLG model with an overlapping generations structure. We use a total of 16 countries and regions, both including those that are industrialized, such as Japan, the US, and the EU, and developing countries, such as China, Brazil, the Philippines, and Peru. Our simulation results show that a permanent immigration flows of 150,000 will improve the Japanese economy and...

February 20, 2026
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16Feb

US. 1/3 Withdraw 401(k) Balances After Job Changes—What Is Driving This Trend?

Retirement savers are generally putting more into their 401(k) accounts these days, but much of the money Americans are saving for their future doesn’t end up lasting until then. That's because a large portion of employees withdraw their 401(k) balance in a lump sum when they leave a job, rather than rolling it over to their new employer or into another account, or leaving their balance where it is. One-third of those who have Vanguard-administered 401(k) plans and left a job did this, according to...

February 16, 2026
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13Feb

Underpaid and under pressure: The eldercare workforce leading the US’s job growth

The U.S. added 130,000 jobs in January, according to federal data released this week. But a closer look shows that the lion's share of this growth came from one specific task: caring for older Americans. Grouped under the formal categories of "social assistance" and "healthcare," at-home care services, hospitals and long-term care facilities added 124,000 positions. Much of this expansion was among the tens of thousands of aides and assistants who help elderly and disabled people bathe, dress, eat and manage...

February 13, 2026
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13Feb

Lufthansa Strike Puts Pension Dispute And Long Term Profitability In Focus

Find winning stocks in any market cycle. Join 7 million investors using Simply Wall St's investing ideas for FREE. Deutsche Lufthansa (XTRA:LHA) is facing a coordinated 24 hour strike by pilots and cabin crew. The walkout is set to affect departures across all German airports. The dispute centers on retirement and pension funding, with management citing limited financial flexibility. The action is expected to disrupt passenger travel and Lufthansa's near term operations. For you as an investor, this strike sits at...

February 13, 2026
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10Feb

Germany has the oldest workers in the EU

The German population is above average age, and of course this also applies to the labor market. This is dramatic, especially considering the future of the pension system. In no other European Union member state is the working population as old as in Germany. In 2024, of the approximately 40.9 million employed, 9.8 million of them were between the ages of 55 and 64, the Federal Statistical Office announced on Tuesday. This corresponds to a percentage of almost a quarter (24.0...

February 10, 2026
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09Feb

South Korea. Seniors Drive 80% of Employment Insurance Growth as Youth Subscribers Decline

Last month, the majority of new subscribers to employment insurance were seniors aged 60 and older, according to statistics. While the rapid increase in working seniors drove the growth in new subscribers, the number of young people aged 29 and younger enrolled in employment insurance actually decreased. According to the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s report, “Labor Market Trends Based on Employment Administration Statistics,” released on the 9th, the number of regular employment insurance subscribers as of the end of...

February 9, 2026
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06Feb

OECD Employment Outlook 2025. Can We Get Through the Demographic Crunch?

By OECD The OECD Employment Outlook looks at the latest labour market developments and prospects in OECD member countries. This edition also discusses the enormous challenges population ageing poses to living standards and social cohesion more generally. The consequences of an ageing workforce for productivity growth are also analysed. Without swift changes in policies and behaviours, GDP per capita growth will slow down significantly in most OECD countries. Integrating under-represented groups in the labour market will help offset ageing, in particular older...

February 6, 2026
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06Feb

Public Pensions and the Strategic Timing of Formal Employment

  By Diego Vera Cossio, Mariano Bosch, Jonathan M. Leganza, Tatiana Mojica & María Laura Oliveri We study how public pensions impact lifecycle labor supply decisions. Our analysis centers on pension eligibility rules in Ecuador. We first use administrative data to document and unpack retirement spikes at eligibility ages. Next, we use survey data and regression discontinuity to investigate whether eligibility rules influence earlier-inlife decisions about when to work formally versus informally. We find discontinuous increases in transitions to formal employment...

February 6, 2026
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