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With the decrease in fertility rate and the extension of life expectancy, China’s ageing degree is deepening, and there is a decrease in the number of labor force individuals, leading to an increase in the burden of old-age care and constraining economic growth. The improvement of human capital can promote economic growth. Research is rquired to determine whether factors such as the teacher-student ratio (quality of education) and the average number of years of schooling (quantity of education) can help alleviate the negative impacts of ageing. The findings demonstrate that education, both in terms of quantity and quality, can successfully reduce the detrimental consequences of ageing. The threshold effect model’s findings indicate that both the amount and quality of education can be more effective in reducing the negative impacts of ageing when average years of education surpass 10.87 years and the teacher-student ratio hits 7.80 (780 instructors per 1000 pupils). The results of heterogeneity analysis reveal that both the quantity and quality of education could potentially mitigate the negative effects of ageing in the eastern and western regions, although these factors do not seem to have the same effect in the central region. In the northern and southern regions, it is found that while the quantity of education can help alleviate the negative effects of ageing, the quality of education is effective only in the southern region and not in the northern region. Therefore, one potential strategy to counteract the adverse effects of ageing with a declining number of children is to increase the teacher-student ratio and extend the duration of free education.

随着生育率下降与预期寿命延长，中国人口老龄化程度持续加深，劳动年龄人口规模缩减，由此带来养老负担加重，并对经济增长形成制约。人力资本提升可推动经济增长，探究师生比（teacher-student ratio，即教育质量）与平均受教育年限（average number of years of schooling，即教育数量）等因素能否缓解老龄化的负面影响，具有重要研究价值。研究结果显示，无论从教育数量还是质量维度来看，均能有效降低老龄化带来的不利影响。基于门槛效应模型的分析结果表明，当平均受教育年限突破10.87年、师生比达到7.80（即每千名学生配备780名教师）时，教育数量与质量对老龄化负面影响的缓解效果会更为显著。异质性分析结果显示，在东部与西部地区，教育数量与质量均能有效缓解老龄化的负面影响，但中部地区未呈现出类似效应。在南、北方地区，教育数量可缓解老龄化的负面影响，但教育质量仅在南方地区发挥作用，北方地区则无此效果。据此，针对儿童规模缩减背景下的老龄化负面影响，可通过提升师生比、延长免费教育时长作为潜在应对策略。