The Real Migration Crisis

The world is in the midst of an unprecedented demographic shift that is upending age struc­tures and the geography of human population. Life expectancy continues to climb across most of the world while fertility rates are falling—especially in richer countries. The result is an aging population in upper-middle- and high-income economies, accompanied by steady growth in the working age population in the world’s poorer countries. In a CGD note and accompanying blog series, Charles Kenny examines what this global workforce imbalance could mean for both poorer and richer economies, and how countries can avert the economic consequences by embracing global worker mobility.

More from the Series

Blog Post

When it Comes to Worker Mobility Policy, the US Should Look North. When it Comes to Workers, Look South
Charles Kenny
September 29, 2021
This is the third in a series of blogs looking at regional aspects of future global demographic and migration patterns discussed in my paper Global Mobility: Confronting A World Workforce Imbalance. The first two blogs in the series focused on East Asia and Northern Europe.
Blog Post

Northern Europe and Worker Mobility: Aging in Place with the Help of the Neighbors

Charles Kenny
September 23, 2021
This is the second of a series of blogs looking at regional aspects of future global demographic and migration patterns discussed in my paper Global Mobility: Confronting A World Workforce Imbalance. The first blog in the series focused on East Asia. 
CGD NOTE

Global Mobility: Confronting A World Workforce Imbalance

Charles Kenny
September 20, 2021
Based on UN projections from the period 2015 to 2050, Rebekah Smith and Farah Hani have calculated that prime working-age populations of OECD countries will shrink by more than 92 million people while there will be nearly 1.4 billion new working-age people in developing countries. This note updates ...
Blog Post

What Comes After the Demographic Dividend? East Asia is Finding Out
Charles Kenny
September 20, 2021
East Asia’s miracle countries are the stuff of both economic legend and considerable debate. One part of the story may be demographics: East Asia saw rising life expectancy and declining birth rates that dramatically, if temporarily, increased the proportion of the population that was of working age...