Role of G20 in Designing Immigration Policies to Support Population Aging

By Omar Kadkoy and Güven Sak

Abstract

The advanced economies of the world are undergoing a demographic shift toward older societies, which may be accompanied with slowdown in economic growth. While this shift has been met with a number of policies, welcoming immigrants from younger societies remains critical to mitigate the consequences of population aging. Newcomers, however, tend to be less educated than natives. Hence, the need for skills development before departure. Existing practices of skills development have been of small scale and limited to selective immigration policies. Economies, however, need mixed work force. Thus, aging economies require low- and high-skilled labor force who could be economic and forcibly displaced immigrants.