IB Geography 1.3.2 Managing Population Change Notes

Targeted Policies Are Essential to Addressing Demographic Challenges

1. Demographic challenges such as aging populations, low birth rates, and gender inequality require targeted policies.
2. These policies aim to balance population dynamics and ensure sustainable development.

Strategies to Tackle the Challenges of Aging Populations

1. Increasing Retirement Age: extending the working life reduces pressure on pension systems and ensures an active labor force.
   1. Many European countries, like Germany, have gradually raised the retirement age to address aging-related challenges.
2. Pension Reforms: adjusting pension systems ensures their sustainability as life expectancy rises.
   1. This includes transitioning from defined-benefit to defined-contribution schemes or indexing benefits to inflation.
3. Incentives for Elder Care: encouraging families to care for elderly relatives reduces public healthcare costs and strengthens intergenerational bonds.
   1. Japan offers subsidies for families providing home-based elder care, reducing reliance on institutional services.

Pro-Natalist Policies Aim to Increase Birth Rates

1. Examples of common pro-natalist policies include:
   1. Financial Incentives: reducing the economic burden of raising children encourages families to have more children.
      1. Many countries, such as France or Poland, offer generous child allowances, tax breaks, reduced price of goods and services, free public services, and cash bonuses for families with multiple children, contributing to a higher fertility rate.
   2. Childcare Support: affordable childcare enables parents, especially women, to balance work and family responsibilities.
      1. In Sweden, heavily subsidized childcare and flexible parental leave policies have helped parents manage family life while maintaining careers, supporting higher birth rates.