Longer lives and fertility far below the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman are leading to rapid population aging in many countries. Many observers are concerned that aging will adversely affect public finances and standards of living. Analysis of newly available National Transfer Accounts data for 40 countries shows that fertility well above replacement would typically be most beneficial for government budgets. However, fertility near replacement would be most beneficial for standards of living when the analysis includes the effects of age structure on families as well as governments. And fertility below replacement would maximize per capita consumption when the cost of providing capital for a growing labor force is taken into account. While low fertility will indeed challenge government programs and very low fertility undermines living standards, we find that moderately low fertility and population decline favor the broader material standard of living

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This study uses experimental data from the United States Diversity-Visa (DV) lottery to explore the impact of migration of children on the sending parents' health, helping to overcome the selection bias issue that plagues similar studies. Based on the inverted U-shaped relationship between BMI and longevity, the study finds that the health prospects of senders with BMIs under 25 increase weakly with migration, decreasing for those in the overweight category. In families with more educated fathers, migration improves the health status of the senders in all weight groups. Overall, it affects the emotional health of the senders adversely, but not in families which gain access to improved sanitation facilities due to migration. The most plausible explanations for this finding are that migration inflicts emotional costs on the senders due to separation from a family member, and that it potentially changes the senders' perception of what constitutes good health.