Population ageing in a nutshell: phenomenon in your dimensions

Growing awareness of the issue of population ageing is not necessarily correlated with growing understanding of the phenomenon. A recent rise in Australia’s birth rate, for example, has generated speculation in some quarters that Australia’s population ageing ‘problem’ may have been resolved. To understand why this is not so it is necessary to understand that the phenomenon has four ‘technical’ dimensions: numerical ageing, structural ageing, natural decline, and absolute decline. This paper provides a potted outline of the nature, causes and implications of these dimensions. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s