Workforce is defined as the total number of people who are available to work and earn incomes. The definition includes everyone who is employed or seeking paid employment, so it includes employers and the self-employed.
Although the size of the workforce depends a great deal on the size of the total population, there are several other influences which also affect it. The age distribution of the total population has a very marked effect on the available workforce. If the population has a high proportion of very young people or of those too old to work, then the available workforce would be lower than if there were an evenly spread age distribution. If the population grows rapidly from natural increase, i.e., the number of births greatly exceeds the number of deaths, then as the total population increases, the proportion in the workforce declines
Sometimes a population is described as aging, which means that the birth rate is either falling or growing very slowly, and as people retire from the workforce, there are not enough young people entering it to replace those who are leaving it. The population is top-heavy with older people. So the percentage of the population in the workforce declines when there is either a rapid increase in births or a falling birth rate.
The age distribution of the population has several important effects on the economy. If the population is aging and there is an increase in the number of people retiring without a corresponding increase in the number entering the workforce, this raises the problem of the ability of the economy to provide a reasonable level of social services to the retired group. If the aged are to be cared for in special homes or hotels, finances must be available for that purpose. If the size of the workforce is small relative to the total population, then the government tax receipts are relatively low and either the government has less money available to it or the workforce members have to be taxed more heavily.
The size of the workforce declines when ().
A. many people reach the retiring age
B. the birth rate falls rapidly
C. the number of retirees exceeds that of new workers
D. the death rate increases