In the debate on immigration, it is often argued that it is necessary to compensate for an aging population. However, according to a new study, there is no evidence that aging or declining populations jeopardize a country’s socioeconomic outcomes.

The study was conducted by Corey J. A. Bradshaw and Shana M. McDermott at Cornell University in New York, one of the so-called Ivy League universities ranked as the 19th top institution in the world.

According to Bradshaw and McDermott, concerns about declining or aging populations often revolve around the fear that fewer people will lead to a weaker economy and lower living standards. However, these concerns are often based on simplified or incorrectly applied interpretations of economic models and seem to be driven more by political agendas than evidence.

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Long-term prosperity instead depends more on how societies invest in education, skills, and technology, and not just on how many people they have. Simply adding people and viewing population growth as an end in itself is therefore meaningless in that regard.

In the study, national data on a global scale were examined to test whether slower population growth or aging populations are linked to poorer economic or social outcomes. Using nine different indexes of socioeconomic performance, such as patent applications, human capital, corruption perception index, and freedom, no evidence was found to support this.

Outperforming

In fact, it was found that countries with low or negative population growth generally outperform all indicators on average, and that even within a country, most older and slower-growing populations fare better on average.

The results challenge common assumptions and highlight the need to move beyond fear-based and politically motivated narratives towards a more well-founded understanding of what truly supports flourishing societies.

Unemployment an Immigration Issue

In August, new figures from Statistics Sweden, SCB, showed that unemployment remains at a high level. 545,000 people were unemployed during the second quarter of this year, corresponding to an unemployment rate of 9.3 percent. Adjusted for seasonal effects, the unemployment rate amounts to 8.7 percent.

At the same time, it was noted that unemployment is more than three times higher among foreign-born individuals than among native-born individuals: 15 and 4.7 percent, respectively.

Unemployment is highest among immigrant women and young people, and lowest among older native-born men.

READ ALSO: SCB: Three Times Higher Unemployment Among Foreign-Born