Investment in Social Capital and Migrant Labour as a Solution for Population Aging

By Wilfred Lunga and Konosoang Sobane

Abstract

Population ageing has become a global concern for most economies due to the implications it has on labor market dynamics and economic development. Ageing results in increased expenditure on health and welfare services, yet the labour force shrinks and is unable to match available labour market opportunities, with detrimental results for production and productivity. Internal policy solutions such as increasing the retirement age and increasing working hours have proved unsuccessful in many countries. There is therefore a need for comprehensive policy actions that integrate internally oriented and externally oriented solutions such as revision of migrant labour and tap into social capital policies.