In consumerist and secularised societies will there be the moral strength to make the right decisions?

Is demography destiny after all?

Dermot Grenham

It seems that you cannot read an article on demography these days without the author contriving to bring in the phrase “demography is destiny”. If this blog site were able to trademark its title, it might be able to make a bob or two out of it!

Just in the past week there was an article in the Financial Times under the headline “Falling fertility rates pose threat to government revenues” which used the line “Demography, in other words, need not necessarily be destiny”. In the New Scientist Fred Pierce’s article on “youth bulges” (subscription required) ended with “Demography may not determine our destiny, but it certainly shapes it.”

Both articles, although coming from different angles, discussed the impact of changes in working-age populations. Pearce reflects on the potential for increased numbers of young people, particularly men, to lead to unrest when they are not provided with the jobs and educational opportunities they expected. On the other hand an increasing proportion of workers in a population can fuel economic development.

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