Abstract
The term ‘New Economy’ is used to refer to two distinct developments. The first is the increasing importance of pure services, particularly those related to information, and the corresponding decline in the importance of the goods-producing sector. The second is the liberalization of product and labour markets and the resulting decline of institutions like lifetime full employment. This development has been particularly evident in Australia and other English-speaking countries. Although there are connections between these two developments, their demographic implications are quite different. An information-based economy implies long periods of education, late childbearing and a reversal of the trend towards early retirement. Labour market liberalization implies extensive use of redundancy as a tool for labour force flexibility and an accentuation of the trend for workers over 50 to withdraw from the labour market. This trend has been sustainable so far because the baby boom has resulted in an increase in the proportion of the population aged 25 to 54. Within the next decade, this proportion will start to decline. If current institutions are maintained, an economic «ageing crisis» will arrive at least a decade earlier than would be suggested by an examination of traditional dependency ratios.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 1999.Labour Force Statistics. Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2000a.Population by Age and Sex, Australian States and Territories. Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2000b.Population Projections, Australia. Canberra.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2001.Labour Force Statistics. Canberra.
Baker, D., G. Epstein and R. Pollin (eds). 1998.Globalization and Progressive Economic Policy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Borland, J. 1996. Education and the structure of earnings in Australia.Economic Record 72(219):370–380.
Day, L. H. 1995.The Future of Low-Birthrate Populations London: Routledge.
De Long, J. B. and L. Summers. 2001. How important will the information economy be? Some simple analytics. University of California at Berkeley.
Ehrenberg, R. G. and R. S. Smith. 1991.Modern Labor Economics: Theory and Public Policy. New York: HarperCollins.
Evans, J., D. Lippoldt and P. Marianna. 2001. Trends in working hours in OECD countries.,Labour Market and Social Policy Occasional Paper No. 45. Paris: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Giddens, A. 1999.The Third Way: The Renewal of Social Democracy. London: Blackwell.
Gregory, R. G. 1996. Wage deregulation, low paid workers and full employment. Pp 81–101 in P. Sheehan, B. Grewal and M. Kumnick (eds.),Dialogues on Australia's Future: In Honour of the Late Professor Ronald Henderson. Melbourne: Centre for Strategic Economic Studies, Victoria University of Technology.
Gruber, J. and D. Wise. 1997. Social security programs and retirement around the world.NBER Working Paper No. 6134. Cambridge MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Langmore, J. and J. Quiggin. 1994.Work for All: Full Employment in the Nineties. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press.
Latham, M. 1998.Civilising Global Capital: New Thinking for Australian Labor. Sydney: Allen and Unwin.
McDonald, P. 2001. Work-family policies are the right approach to the prevention of very low fertility.People and Place 9(3):17–27.
Mitchell, D. 1996. Social policy and the NCA: old whines in new bottles? Pp. 17–28 inWhat Should Governments Do? Auditing the National Commission of Audit. Canberra: Australia Institute.
National Commission of Audit. 1996.Report to the Commonwealth Government. Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service.
Neumark, D. 2000. Changes in job stability and job security: a collective effort to untangle, reconcile, and interpret the evidence.NBER Working Paper No. 7472. Cambridge MA: National Bureau of Economic Research.
Quiggin, J. 1999a. Globalisation, neoliberalism and inequality in Australia.Economic and Labour Relations Review 10(2):240–259.
Quiggin, J. 1999b. Human capital theory and education policy in Australia.Australian Economic Review 32(2):130–144.
Quiggin, J. 2001. Resolving the University crisis. Submission to the inquiry of the Senate Employment, Workplace Relations, Small Business and Education Committee into the capacity of public universities to meet Australia's higher education needs.
Tanner, L. 1999.Open Australid. Sydney: Pluto Press.
Toffler, A. and H. Toffler. 1994.Creating a New Civilisation: The Politics of the Third Wave. Atlanta: Turner Publishing.
Wajcman, J. 1998.Managing Like a Man: Women and Men in Corporate Management. University Park PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Quiggin, J. Demography and the new economy. Journal of Population Research 18, 177–193 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03031888
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03031888