Across much of the developed world, one of the most dependable drivers of economic growth is faltering.
For decades, the rapid inflow of migrants helped countries including Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom stave off the demographic drag from aging populations and falling birth rates. That’s now breaking down as a surge of arrivals since borders reopened after the pandemic runs headlong into a chronic shortage of homes to accommodate them.
Canada and Australia have escaped recession since their COVID contractions, but their people haven’t with deep per-capita downturns eroding standards of living. The U.K.’s recession last year looked mild on raw numbers but was deeper and longer when measured on a per-person basis.