CENSUS: Economist says slower birth rate will impact economy

Economist, Dr Davidson Daway says there’s an economic cost to Jamaica’s declining birth rate.

Yesterday the Statistical Institute of Jamaica revealed there has been no baby boom in Jamaica over the past 10 years, with fewer than 500,000 babies born over the past decade.

READ: No baby boom!

Daway says this means there is now an aging population which will translate into the government collecting less revenue as more people eventually retire.

He says people may need to start making more babies, but notes that education must be made a priority for the population to be able to earn better wages.

According to Daway, a recent World Bank report that 90 percent of the population cannot read beyond Grade 9 is an indictment on the nation.