IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/vid/yearbk/v21y2023i1oid0x003e807d.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The key role of early education in an ageing and shrinking population: The example of Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Elke Loichinger
  • C. Katharina Spiess

Abstract

Germany is currently among the 10 oldest countries in the world, as measured by the share of population aged 70 years and over.With the baby boomer cohorts of the 1950s and 1960s having started to reach retirement ages, a new phase of ageing is about to take place. In this debate piece, we argue that investments in human capital at any age and at any stage of the life course are indispensable for dealing with an ageing population. Investments in early education are most effective and efficient, as early skills beget later skills. We show that in an ageing society, it is most efficient to invest in children from the very beginning to develop their full human potential, and to ensure that no child is left behind. Moreover, investments in early education programmes have benefits in addition to those directly related to children, including benefits related to fertility, maternal employment and the integration of parents with a migration background. Globally, more and more countries are faced with increasing proportions of older people and decreasing proportions of working-age people in their populations. Thus, what we describe here for Germany can in many respects be transferred to other country contexts.

Suggested Citation

  • Elke Loichinger & C. Katharina Spiess, 2023. "The key role of early education in an ageing and shrinking population: The example of Germany," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 21(1), pages 93-103.
  • Handle: RePEc:vid:yearbk:v:21:y:2023:i:1:oid:0x003e807d
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://austriaca.at/0xc1aa5576_0x003e807d.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Müller, Kai-Uwe & Wrohlich, Katharina, 2020. "Does subsidized care for toddlers increase maternal labor supply? Evidence from a large-scale expansion of early childcare," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    2. Elke Loichinger, 2015. "Labor force projections up to 2053 for 26 EU countries, by age, sex, and highest level of educational attainment," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 32(15), pages 443-486.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lanza Queiroz, Bernardo & Lobo Alves Ferreira, Matheus, 2021. "The evolution of labor force participation and the expected length of retirement in Brazil," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 18(C).
    2. Katrin Huber & Geske Rolvering, 2023. "Public child care and mothers’ career trajectories," Working Papers 228, Bavarian Graduate Program in Economics (BGPE).
    3. Pelin Akyol & Zeynep Yılmaz, 2024. "Effects of Grandmothers' Proximity on Mothers' Labour Force Participation," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 86(5), pages 1122-1162, October.
    4. Mathias Huebener & Sevrin Waights & C. Katharina Spiess & Nico A. Siegel & Gert G. Wagner, 2021. "Parental well-being in times of Covid-19 in Germany," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 19(1), pages 91-122, March.
    5. Philipp, Marie-Fleur & Büchau, Silke & Schober, Pia S. & Werner, Viktoria & Spieß, C. Katharina, 2024. "How Daycare Quality Shapes Norms around Daycare Use and Parental Employment: Experimental Evidence from Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 16729, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Yen-hsin Alice Cheng & Elke Loichinger, 2017. "The Future Labor Force of an Aging Taiwan: The Importance of Education and Female Labor Supply," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 36(3), pages 441-466, June.
    7. Asakawa, Shinsuke & Sasaki, Masaru, 2020. "Can Childcare Benefits Increase Maternal Employment? Evidence from Childcare Benefits Policy in Japan," IZA Discussion Papers 13589, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Jonas Jessen & Christa Katharina Spieß & Sevrin Waights, 2022. "Centre‐Based Care and Parenting Activities," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 84(6), pages 1356-1379, December.
    9. Christina Boll & Andreas Lagemann, 2018. "Does Culture Trump Money? Employment and Childcare Use of Migrant and Non-Migrant Mothers of Pre-School Children in Germany," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1015, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    10. Angelo Leogrande & Alberto Costantiello, 2023. "The Labor Force Participation Rate in the Context of ESG Models at World Level," Working Papers hal-04114330, HAL.
    11. Franz Neuberger & Martin Bujard & Tobias Rüttenauer, 2022. "Where does public childcare boost female labor force participation? Exploring geographical heterogeneity across Germany 2007–2017," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(24), pages 693-722.
    12. Hermes, Henning & Krauß, Marina & Lergetporer, Philipp & Peter, Frauke & Wiederhold, Simon, 2022. "Early Child Care and Labor Supply of Lower-SES Mothers: A Randomized Controlled Trial," IZA Discussion Papers 15814, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Amer Ahmed & Maurizio Bussolo & Marcio Cruz & Delfin S. Go & Israel Osorio-Rodarte, 2020. "Global Inequality in a more educated world," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(4), pages 585-616, December.
    14. Frodermann, Corinna & Wrohlich, Katharina & Zucco, Aline, 2023. "Parental Leave Policy and Long-run Earnings of Mothers," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    15. Marina Krauß & Niklas Rott, 2024. "Early Childcare Expansion and Maternal Health," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1208, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    16. Frank T. Denton & Byron G. Spencer, 2015. "A Simulation Analysis of the Longer-Term Effects of Immigration on Per Capita Income in an Aging Population," Department of Economics Working Papers 2015-14, McMaster University.
    17. Christina Boll & Andreas Lagemann, 2018. "Does Culture Trump Money? Erwerbsverhalten und Kitanutzung von Müttern mit und ohne Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1014, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    18. Elke Loichinger & Alexia Prskawetz, 2017. "Changes in economic activity: The role of age and education," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(40), pages 1185-1208.
    19. Samuel Vézina & Alain Bélanger, 2019. "Impacts of education and immigration on the size and skills of the future workforce," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 41(12), pages 331-366.
    20. Ukaj MIC & Mustafa Topxhiu RAHMIJE, 2019. "The returns to investment in education: Some theoretical and empirical insights," Economics and Applied Informatics, "Dunarea de Jos" University of Galati, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, issue 1, pages 193-203.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:vid:yearbk:v:21:y:2023:i:1:oid:0x003e807d. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bernhard Rengs (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.oeaw.ac.at/vid/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.