February Archive

Is Japan’s Population Decline Worse than Previously Thought?

Marcus Roberts | 27 February 2013

Some dodgy population statistics from Japan.

I Won’t Mention the “E-Word” Again! Promise!

Marcus Roberts | 25 February 2013

Paul Ehrlich is still predicting mass famine - 45 years on...

Canadians argue for family taxation

Shannon Roberts | 23 February 2013

It seems that in Canada tough family finances are getting in the way of people having more children, even though they would actually like to do so. This needs to change if we are to overcome the problem of population aging. What is most interesting, however, is that Canadians would actually like to have more children – so there is the potential for change. The World Values Survey found that the mean ideal number of children for Canadian families was 2.7, compared to the 1.63 they are currently having (the replacement rate is 2.1).

Singapore’s rocky search for more migrants

Marcus Roberts | 22 February 2013

Singapore's government is facing dissent over its plans to bring in more migrants to make up for a low birth rate.

Hey! Old People! Stop being a burden on the rest of us!

Marcus Roberts | 19 February 2013

The Japanese finance minister has decided that his party doesn't need the elderly vote.

Can we always trust the statistics we read?

Shannon Roberts | 15 February 2013

While perhaps not strictly demography, his latest article in The Telegraph is also an interesting critique of how widely circulated and believed statistics can turn out to be quite wrong. He points out in his opinion piece yesterday the fairly shocking news that the image of the Magdalene laundries in Ireland promoted by the media has been found to be quite false:

Too Old to Work?

Marcus Roberts | 13 February 2013

The Pope has resigned at 85, should we be looking again at when we become too old to work?

Family friendly policies the answer to demographic woes?

Shannon Roberts | 11 February 2013

This week I recommend you to an interesting interview conducted by John Rosen on the Wall Street Journal website with the author of a new book called “What to expect when no one’s expecting”. You can find it here. The author, Jonathan Last, succinctly summarises many of the challenges facing the world as a result of low birth rates. We only have to look like countries like Greece to see that we can’t afford entitlements, for example, without a young working population paying taxes.

Waitangi Day and Japan

Marcus Roberts | 06 February 2013

Happy Waitangi Day! And what does the future hold for Japan?

UK Government: Please, Don’t Come! Part II

Marcus Roberts | 04 February 2013

Romania is not happy with the UK's attempts to limit Romanian migrants.

UK Government: Please, Don’t Come!

Marcus Roberts | 01 February 2013

The UK government is trying to convince Bulgarians and Romanians that the UK is not what it's cracked up to be.