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Alan McDonald: EMA Head of Advocacy & Strategy on natural population growth hitting the lowest point since World War II
New Zealand's older residents will likely become a backstop if our population growth continues to fall, and workers aren't replaced.
Our estimated natural population increase —births minus deaths— is the lowest since the 1940s during World War II.
EMA Head of Advocacy & Strategy Alan McDonald told Ryan Bridge policies incentivising people to have children don't work, so the workforce will end up relying on immigrants and older people.
He says New Zealand's one of the highest aging populations in the world, so we may have to look at retraining older people to fill workforce gaps.
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