INTHEBLACK July 2026 - Magazine - Page 27
2.75%
2.77%
2.78%
Solomon Islands
Tuvalu
2.67%
Marshall Islands
Philippines
2.65%
4.43%
3.98%
3.79%
3.32%
Afghanistan
Timor-Leste
Papua New Guinea
Pakistan
2.24%
Laos
Tonga
2.21%
Fiji
2.55%
2.19%
Micronesia
Nauru
2.17%
Cambodia
2.33%
2.15%
Kiribati
Samoa
2.13%
Sri Lanka
2.07%
2.03%
Vietnam
Bangladesh
2.03%
India
DWINDLING LABOUR SUPPLY
According to the federal government’s
Intergenerational Report 2023, Australia’s
participation rate (the percentage of people
of working age engaged in the workforce)
is projected to fall over the next 40 years from
66.6 per cent in 2022–23 to 63.8 per cent
2.53%
in 2062–63. This reflects the growing
number of older people in the population
who participate less in the labour force,
an effect which will only partially be offset
by the higher participation of younger
people and future generations.
“Lower fertility rates are associated
with higher labour participation of women,
who are having fewer children and giving
birth later in life,” says Ross Guest,
a teaching associate in the School
of Economics at the University of
Queensland. “Most of the effect of the
increasing rate of labour participation
by women is starting to reduce now.
So, labour supply will be tighter relative
to the number of consumers in the
economy. That has implications for firm
strategy and public policy.”
Vanuatu
AUSTRALIA’S WOMEN ARE HAVING
1.4 fewer children on average now than they
had in the 1950s, an effect known in the media
as the “baby drought”. With this trend unlikely
to reverse, the onus is on policymakers to
ensure that society has everything it needs to
function. Economically, fewer children means
less humans to contribute to taxes and growth,
while an ageing population increasingly
consumes resources.
For accountants, this has flow-on effects
in terms of tax and wealth planning for
individual clients. For corporate clients,
a combination of sound workplace
planning and efficient use of technology
is needed to combat potential negative effects
on their operations.
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 27
