Australian population growth slowed by pandemic
by Michael Cook | 27 Sep 2020 |
Bondi Beach in Sydney
The Covid-19 pandemic has dealt a blow to Australian population growth which will take decades to recover, demographers believe. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, net overseas migration – which accounts for about 60% of the country’s population growth -- is set to collapse from 154,000 in last financial year to just 31,000 in 2020-21.
But natural population increase – births minus deaths – is also slowing. Figures issued by the Bureau of Statistics this week indicate that in March Australia had its smallest natural increase in 14 years.
New forecasts suggest that the fertility rate will drop to an all-time low of 1.59 during this financial year, recover in 2024 but then continue to drop to a little over 1.6 by the end of the decade.
"The COVID outbreak is going to cause a ripple that will be felt for years," says demographer Liz Allen, of Australian National University. "We're in deep strife. Children are indeed our future. They're our future taxpayers. Policies already favour older Australians. Lower fertility [and reduced migration] means as a community we're going to get older and that will just mean more policy support for older people at the expense of younger people.”
Michael Cook is editor of BioEdge
Judge Amy Coney Barrett gave a gracious acceptance speech after being nominated by President Trump to the US Supreme Court. “The flag of the United States is still flying at half staff in memory of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg to mark the end of a great American life,” she said. “She not only broke glass ceilings, but she smashed them. She was a woman of enormous talent and consequences and her life of public service serves as an example to us all.”
It was a moving tribute to RBG, but ACB is expected to help shift SCOTUS in a very different direction – more conservative, and above all, more sceptical of abortion. As I wrote before, bioethics is “at the very centre of this strange election”.
Michael Cook
Editor
It was a moving tribute to RBG, but ACB is expected to help shift SCOTUS in a very different direction – more conservative, and above all, more sceptical of abortion. As I wrote before, bioethics is “at the very centre of this strange election”.
Michael Cook
Editor
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