The effects of falling birth rates and rising life expectancy are increasingly evident in advanced economies like Germany, Italy and Japan. Labor markets are tightening, worker shortages are worsening and families are struggling to find care for aging parents. In some areas, declining student numbers are forcing schools to shut down.
South Korea offers a stark example. In 2023, as the country’s total fertility rate plummeted to just 0.7 children per woman of childbearing age over a lifetime, sales of dog strollers surpassed those of baby strollers.
But population aging is not limited to advanced economies. Within a generation or two, many emerging economies will likely face the same demographic problems plaguing their developed-country counterparts — without the financial resources needed to cushion the blow.
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