As recently as the 1960s, the average woman in Latin America had six children. Today that number is 1.8. In Chile, it has fallen to 1.1, lower than Japan. Combined with rising life expectancy, the result is a region aging faster than any other in the world. If current trends hold, national populations could decline by a third in Chile and Uruguay, a quarter in Brazil, and a fifth in Argentina by 2100. The consequences are already visible: pension crises and census counts that have come in millions lower than governments expected. Today on the podcast, we dive deeper into AQ’s latest cover story to understand what this demographic transformation means for Latin America’s economies and politics specifically. Is there a silver lining? And can the region adapt? Our guests are Laurence Blair, author of AQ’s cover story on The Gray Tide, and Ernesto Revilla, Chief Economist for Latin America at Citigroup.
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Guest:
Ernesto Revilla is a Managing Director and Chief Economist for Latin America at Citigroup.
Laurence Blair is a freelance journalist based in Paraguay.
Host:
Brian Winter is editor-in-chief of Americas Quarterly
If you would like to know more:
The Gray Tide: Latin America’s Demographic Transformation by Laurence Blair
Latin America’s Demographic Transformation by the Numbers by Emilie Sweigart
The Intertwined Dynamics of Demographics and Race by Michael Rendón Vera
How Aging Societies Are Putting Greater Pressure on Women by Miranda Mazariegos
Migration Has Emerged as a Key Factor in Fertility by Rich Brown
