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II. Literature Review
Author(s) -
Jaffe Joseph,
Beebe Beatrice,
Feldstein Stanley,
Crown Cynthia L.,
Jasnow Michael D.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
monographs of the society for research in child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.618
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1540-5834
pISSN - 0037-976X
DOI - 10.1111/1540-5834.00138
Subject(s) - columbia university , george (robot) , library science , psychology , sociology , history , media studies , art history , computer science
Population ageing is an inevitable outcome of the demographic transition. Due primarily to declines of fertility, and secondarily to mortality declines, the age structure of a population becomes older, with a growing number and proportion of elderly persons. While many countries, especially those in the more developed regions, have experienced such a demographic process for some time, there is great variation among them in terms of the level and pace of population ageing. In recent years, the issue of population ageing has received renewed attention in developed countries, because of the continuance of fertility below the replacement level and ongoing trends towards lower mortality. Thus, the trends of population ageing are expected to increase further in these countries and their populations are projected to level off and decline in the foreseeable future. These changes have profound consequences and far-reaching implications, especially for pension schemes, heath-care systems and the economic vitality and growth of a country. The future population size and age-sex structure of any country depends basically on the three demographic components: fertility, mortality and international migration. As no policies to increase the mortality of a population are socially acceptable, there are, in theory, two possible ways of retarding or reversing demographic ageing. First, a reversal of declines of fertility would lead the age structure of the population back towards a younger one, thus slowing down the ageing process. However, the recent experience of low-fertility countries suggests that there is no reason to assume that their fertility will return anytime soon to the above-replacement level (United Nations, 1997). Hence, as a second option, the potential role that international migration could play in offsetting population decline and population ageing has been considered. Given the possibility of attracting larger number of immigrants into economically affluent developed countries, virtually all of which are experiencing low fertility, it appears appropriate to consider the impact that international migration may have on the demographic challenges of ageing. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) commissioned research on these issues and published in 1991 a special report on the demographic impact of migration (OECD, 1991). A number of studies have examined the demographic impact of a constant influx of migrants on the growth of a population with below replacement fertility. For example, taking the twelve countries in Europe or members of then the European Community (EC) together, Lesthaeghe and others (1988) carried out population projections. With …