Population Trends

Population trends affect employment opportunities in a Number of ways. First of all, changes in the size and composition of the population influence the demand for goods
And services--for example, the population aged 85 and over will grow more than three times as fast as the total population between 1990 and 1998, increasing the demand for health services. Equally important, population changes produce corresponding changes in the size and characteristics of the labor force.

The U.S. civilian noninstitutional population aged 16 and over, is expected to grow more slowly over the next 15 years than it did during the previous 15-year period, increasing from about 188 million to 218 million. However, even slower population growth will increase the demand for goods and services, as well as the demand for workers in many occupations and industries.

The age structure will shift toward relatively fewer children and youth and a growing proportion of middle-aged and older people well into the 21st century. The decline in the proportion of children and youth reflects the lower birth rates hat prevailed during the 1970's and 1980's; the impending large increase in the middle-aged population reflects the aging of the "baby boom" generation born after World War II; and the very rapid growth in the number of old people is attributable to high birth rates prior to the Great Depression of the 1930's, together with improvements in medical technology that have made it possible for most Americans to survive into old age.

Population growth varies greatly among geographic regions, affecting the demand for goods and services and, in turn, workers in various occupations and industries. Between 1980 and1990, the population of the Midwest and the Northeast grew by only 1.4 percent and 3.4 percent, respectively, compared with13.4 percent in the South and 22.2 percent in the West. These differences reflect the movement of people seeking new jobs or retiring, as well as higher birth rates in some areas than in others.