The target population consists of the Dutch labour force aged 16 to 66 years.
The results indicate that plausible immigration cannot offset the negative effects of population and labour force ageing.
Between 2006 and 2026 the growth in the labour force aged 20 to 64 will slow from about 7.5percentnt every 5 years to about 2percentnt.
Section 2 presents the background for the study: selected theoretical aspects of population and labour force ageing, as well as some empirical evidence with respect to the magnitude of these phenomena in Europe.
Between 2006 and 2026 the growth in the labour force aged 20 to 64 is projected to slow from 7.5percentnt every five years to about 2percentnt, and over half of that growth will be in the 50 to 64 year age group.
Young people, and core labour-force age group of 18-64, both declined.
This work pattern, which has been described as an "M-shaped curve" representing rates of participation in the labour force by age, is characterised by peaks in the early 20s and late 40s, combined with a trough in the early 30s.
As might be expected, the highest levels of out-migrations were recorded among the labour force population aged between 15 and 59 for all years, with the peaks at ages 20 24, as shown in Figs 7 and 8.
On average, 7.6 vacant jobs are available for 1000 persons in the active labour force population (aged between 15 and 64 years).
