Opening the borders would increase the labour force, creating more taxpayers and more potential carers (in hospitals and nursing homes) to look after the elderly.
Nor is there any political debate about it – even economists believe it's a good thing, not least in terms of increasing the labour force by helping both parents to remain in work.
Daud Khan successfully introduced several far-reaching educational and social reforms, such as allowing women to wear the veil voluntarily and abolishing purdah (the practice of secluding women from public view), which theoretically increased the labour force by about half.
Loane Sharp points out that while mine production between 1990 and 2012 increased, the labour force shank from 1.2 million to 514,000 - the result of mechanisation.
Interventions that increase the labour force participation rate of people with chronic conditions (such as diabetes) are likely to yield benefits to both individuals and government.
These can include borrowing and sales of assets to meet expenses and earnings losses, accessing informal community-based insurance pools and formal health insurance, increase the labour force participation of young children or diversify income sources, say by better access to credit [ 9].
Several studies have demonstrated that pharmacological (such as metformin) and lifestyle interventions to prevent or delay the development of Type 2 diabetes in high risk individuals are effective and cost-effective [ 31- 33], and have the potential to increase the labour force participation rate of older workers with this form of diabetes which, in turn, may reduce income losses [ 34].
This is a combined result of the assumed increase in the labour force participation of older people, and the projected increase of the share of persons aged 65+ in the total population.
Over the past decade, the increase in the labour force has contributed an average of only 1% a year, or one-tenth of its GDP growth.
An increase in the labour force of 800,000 – the number of people between the ages of 50 and 65 who say they want to work – would mean that instead of creating a pension and NHS timebomb, Britain's GDP would be increased by about £58bn a year.
