If a country has a plan to become smaller, I guess I can see why they’d need to stretch out their current workforce for a long as possible. The US, which is where I live, I think plans on growing until we find a hard barrier that we can’t power through.

The US isn’t immune to this, merely better placed. Projections are that the US will move from 3 workers per retiree to 2 workers per retiree by 2050. (You can project these things pretty well as the new generation is already born.)

You can project, but also respond; nation of immigrants and all that.

That’s included in the projection.

Also there are fewer young people in the rest of the world, the birth rate has declined worldwide.

The US currently only maintains positive population growth due to immigration, and one of the two major political parties opposes immigration.

The basic nature of the US is to always say: more, bigger. I think betting against that instinct is a bad move.

Well, maybe AI will replace most office jobs, at which point most of those workers can become caregivers to the old.

Man that’s bleak.