ABSTRACT
From a demographic perspective, Australia and Japan stand at opposite ends of the population ageing spectrum in the Asian region. Australia has one of the youngest populations among the developed nations, whereas Japan has the oldest. Australia’s population is projected to increase to 28 million by 2050 from its current level of 21 million, an increase stemming from both a fertility rate of 1.8 and an aggressive suite of immigration policies which currently see more than 200,000 new arrivals each year. In Japan, on the other hand, population began to decline in 2006, and the labour force has been shrinking since the 1990s. These differences have direct implications for the labour market. The scarcity of labour, its flexibility, and the labour force participation of older workers are intimately related.
