Health, an ageing labour force, and the economy: does health moderate the relationship between population age-structure and economic growth?

Cylus, Jonathan ORCID: 0000-0001-8269-1578 and Al Tayara, Lynn (2021) Health, an ageing labour force, and the economy: does health moderate the relationship between population age-structure and economic growth? Social Science and Medicine, 287. ISSN 0277-9536

Text (1-s2.0-S0277953621006857-main) - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB)

• Author

Abstract

Research often suggests that population ageing will be detrimental for the economy due to increased labour market exits and lost productivity, however the role of population health and disability at older ages is not well established. We estimate the relationship between the size of the older working age population and economic growth across 180 countries from 1990 to 2017 to explore whether a healthy older working age population, as measured by age-specific Years Lived with Disability (YLDs), can moderate the relationship between an ageing labour force and real per capita GDP growth. Using country and year fixed effects models, we find that although an increase in the 55–69 year old share of the total population is associated with a reduction in real per capita GDP growth, the decline in economic growth is moderated if the population at that age is in good health. To demonstrate the magnitude of effects, we present model predicted real per capita GDP growth for a selection of countries from 2020 through 2100 comparing the 2017 country-specific baseline YLD rate to a simulated 5% improvement in YLDs. Our findings demonstrate that economic slowdowns attributable to population ageing are avoidable through policy interventions supporting healthy and active ageing.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/social-scien...
Additional Information:	© 2021 World Health Organization
Divisions:	LSE Health European Observatory on Health Systems
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Date Deposited:	13 Oct 2021 11:51
Last Modified:	17 Apr 2024 16:45
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/112421

Actions (login required)

View Item