Prospective demographic change and Australia’s living standards in 2050

Australia is facing a substantial ageing of its population. This paper calculates under various assumptions the future level of living standards. It shows that, notwithstanding the ageing population, there will be a substantial increase in living standards in the future, almost doubling in the next 50 years. Furthermore, future living standards are more or less independent of future rates of fertility and future rates of immigration. Lower fertility and higher immigration have positive effects on living standards but the effects are so small that we feel the best way to describe the relation is one of independence