March 2024
15Mar

Japan union group announces biggest wage hikes in 33 years, presaging shift at central bank

Japan's biggest companies agreed to raise wages by 5.28% for 2024, the heftiest pay hikes in 33 years, the country's largest union group said on Friday, reinforcing views that the county's central bank will soon shift away from a decade-long stimulus programme. The much-stronger-than-expected increase comes as the Bank of Japan looks close to ending eight years of negative interest rate policy. BOJ officials have stressed the timing of a pivot would depend on the outcome of this year's annual...

March 15, 2024
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14Mar

East Asian societies have the world’s lowest birth rates—and are learning that ‘throwing a bit of money’ at the problem isn’t solving anything

Governments across Asia—in Singapore and Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul—are facing a crisis: plummeting birth rates. For several decades now, people in East Asian economies have had fewer and fewer children. Last year, South Korea beat its own record for having the world’s lowest birth rate, reporting 0.72 births per woman for 2023, down from 0.78 in 2022. Singapore reported 0.97 births per woman, the first time the rate has fallen below one. Japan has one of the world’s oldest populations, with a median age of 49.5. Hong Kong, Taiwan,...

March 14, 2024
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11Mar

Thailand raises alarm on aging population, declining birth rates

Thailand officials engaged in discussions last week to exchange opinions, seek solutions, and address the challenges of the country's transitioning into an aging society and the younger generation's reluctance to have children. Varawut Silpa-archa, Minister of Social Development and Human Security, chaired the workshop on March 7 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center. The minister highlighted the demographic structure issues, including the declining birth rate and the increasing average lifespan. It is projected that by 2037, the proportion of children...

March 11, 2024
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08Mar

The gender pensions gap report 2024

By Joanne Segars, Lizzy Holliday & Laura Wilkinson The gender pensions gap- the difference in pension savings wealth between men and women at retirement age - is substantial. Allowing for typical working patterns, women's pension wealth is a third (33%) less, relative to men. These figures are the result of a lifetime of reduced earnings potential, increased time out of the workforce and other contributory factors. To bridge this gap themselves, women would need to work an extra 19 years in...

March 8, 2024
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08Mar

Gender Pension Gap in EU Countries: A Between-Group Inequality Approach

By Antonio Abatemarco, Elena Lagomarsino & Maria Russolillo  Pension entitlements are influenced by individual career paths and labor market conditions, which often result in gender-based disparities. Women face several challenges during their working lives, such as late entry into the labor market, the gender pay gap, discontinuous working careers, and early retirement due to family caregiving, which lead to lower pension incomes. This paper investigates the gender pension gap in nine European Union countries from 2004 to 2020. Our study...

March 8, 2024
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01Mar

Singapore faces shrinking population as total fertility rate falls below 1% for first time

Singapore, facing a dwindling population and a manpower shortage, has seen its resident total fertility rate (TFR) drop to an estimated 0.97 per cent in 2023, the first time it has dropped below one per cent in the country’s history. The TFR, which refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years, fell from 1.04 in 2022 and 1.12 in 2021, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Indranee Rajah told Parliament on Wednesday. The...

March 1, 2024
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February 2024
20Feb

How South Korea Is Tackling Its Demographic Crisis

Some 24.5% of South Koreans aged 70 and above were still working as of January, local media reported Monday, as officials increasingly look to keep more elderly in the workforce to address a demographic crisis. Elderly employment figures have seen a steady increase since the country’s statistics authority started to collect the data in 2005. Among these workers, half of whom are aged 75 and above, 42.1% are considered “simple laborers” by authorities, referring to workers with jobs that are not specialized and require...

February 20, 2024
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19Feb

New Zealand. Lowest population growth in 80 years

There were 19,071 more births than deaths in 2023, according to data released by Stats NZ today. This is the lowest annual natural increase since 1943, when there were 17,562 more births than deaths. There were 56,955 live births and 37,884 deaths registered in New Zealand in 2023. “2023 had the lowest number of births registered in 20 years,” population insights analyst Rebekah Hennessey said. “The number of deaths in 2023 was slightly lower than in 2022, but higher than in the years...

February 19, 2024
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14Feb

China wants to build a ‘silver economy’ for its ageing society – but who will keep it running?

Homes for the elderly are businesses like any other. But when Yan Guizhen established her first care facility at the turn of the millennium, she was more interested in providing a necessary service than maximising profit. Yan, 53, now manages six facilities that employ around 100 carers, tending to more than one thousand beds in China’s eastern Shandong province. But her dream to keep those of the older generation safe and comfortable has run into several snags. With China’s population ageing fast,...

February 14, 2024
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12Feb

The Silver Economy: Unveiling Investment Opportunities in Aging Populations

The global demographic landscape is undergoing a profound transformation. As life expectancies extend and birth rates decline in many parts of the world, the proportion of the elderly population is increasing at an unprecedented rate. This shift has created the “Silver Economy” — a new area of economic growth linked to the needs and activities of aging populations. As the number of older people increases, their needs and preferences will have an increasing impact on shaping our economy and society. For investors,...

February 12, 2024
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