IDB: Low Fertility, Longer Lives Creating New Challenges For Region

Latin America and the Caribbean are moving from an era of rapid population growth to one characterised by low fertility and longer lives.

Research shows that this will create major challenges for labour, pensions, healthcare, public finances and caregiving, but also opportunities in areas such as healthcare, technology, finance and entrepreneurship, provided governments and institutions adapt quickly.

At a two-day research conference hosted by the Inter-American Development Bank, Chief Economist and Economic Counselor Laura Alfaro Maykall noted that these demographic changes are reshaping the region’s societies, economies and public institutions.