Australia's labour force and the ageing population

Population ageing is expected to create severe fiscal pressures for governments. Labour force participation will become an increasingly important issue as the population ages. People who are employed pay taxes, accumulate superannuation and claim less social security, improving the budget balance and making more funds available for Australia’s increasing health care, pensions and aged care needs. Promoting labour force participation has been suggested by Treasury and the Productivity Commission as a means of reducing future fiscal pressures caused by the ageing population. This book explains how dynamic microsimulation modelling can be used to simulate Australia's future labour force. It uses the Australian Population and Policy Simulation Model, APPSIM, to simulate the impact of a number of scenarios on future labour force participation and superannuation balances.