Issue Tension between moderate population growth and dependence on migrant labour

Summary

The state commission on demography 2050 considers moderate population growth the most favourable path for the Netherlands and argues for policy that keeps growth within controllable bounds. Its reasoning is that moderate growth prevents the excessive labour shortages of stagnation or decline while protecting the balance between working and non-working groups that rapid growth could disturb. Yet the report's chapter on the economy expects the Netherlands to keep relying heavily on knowledge and labour migrants to grow its knowledge economy and deliver the transitions. That reliance increases pressure on housing and public services and pulls against the moderate growth path that is considered desirable. Since population growth stems almost entirely from migration, the report treats this tension in both its demography and its economy chapters.