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Comparison Of Ageing Population In Australia And Japan

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All that withers once blossomed. Across the developed world, populations are ageing disproportionately, with youth being slowly eclipsed by age. This ageing demographic is evident in both Australia and Japan. By 2060, those aged 65 and above will account for 40% of Japan’s population, while in Australia, this percentage is expected to exceed 20%. The key challenge posed by an ageing population is the need to bolster productivity with a sustainable labour force. This would help to generate revenue to offset the costs of an ageing population (for example, pension and healthcare). However, factors that bear upon the question of ageing are largely dependent on the political, cultural and economic idiosyncrasies of each nation. The application …show more content…

The population of Japan is experiencing a ‘death by demographics,’ with the population predicted to diminish by one-third approaching 2060. The fertility rate (births per woman) of 1.4 is falling far below the replacement level for the population, while the proportion of those aged 65 or above continues to mushroom. Low fertility rates are also present in Australia, which has been falling short of the population replenishment level since at least 1976. In 2013, this stood at 1.88 children per woman. Worryingly, current trends suggest that growing numbers of young people are choosing either not to have families, or to have smaller …show more content…

In Japan it is freely admitted that, “structural changes can happen overnight,” yet,“cultural changes never happen that quickly.” As a historically homogenous (tan’itsu minzoku) society, Japan has been more reluctant to accept migration as a source of labour. In contrast to Australia, only 2% of the Japanese population are foreigners. Unlike many Japanese cultural norms, the principle of ‘no-immigration’ has experienced little change over the years. Japan’s policy regarding overseas migration may, as some argue, be representative of the nation’s ‘ambivalence against globalisation’. Nevertheless, the resilience of such entrenched cultural attitudes are likely to be tested in coming years, as the population continues to age and the workforce diminishes. The emergence of robotic assistance in Japanese aged support is an example of the growing role of technology in filling this labour

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