The potential support ratio (PSR) is the number of people age 15–64 per one older person aged 65 or older. This ratio describes the burden placed on the
working population
The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the Pooling (resource management), pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single types of companies, company or ...
(
unemployment
Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...
and children are not considered in this measure) by the non-working elderly population.
[World Population Ageing 1950-2050, p 4]
Definition of the Indicators of Population Ageing
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As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall. Between 1950 and 2009, the potential ratio declined from 12 to 9 potential workers per person aged 65 or over. By 2050, the potential support ratio is projected to drop further to reach 4 potential worker per older person. The reduction of potential support ratio has important implications for social security schemes, particularly for pay-as-you-go pension systems under which taxes on current workers pay the pensions of retirees.
In 2015, Japan has the lowest PSR in the world, at 1.8.World Population Prospects
page 7.
See also
*
Dependency ratio
The dependency ratio is an age-population ratio of those typically not in the labor force (the ''dependent'' part ages 0 to 14 and 65+) and those typically in the labor force (the ''productive'' part ages 15 to 64). It is used to measure the press ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Potential Support Ratio
Ageing