Aging Population : A Social Problem

In Josh Barro’s article, he mainly discusses the theme of Social Security. He explains how if we raise the age for people to access Social Security, that will harm poorer Americans who have a lower life expectancy due to the type of work they do or because of lack of other proper benefits. In the video, Coming of Age in and Aging America, they discuss the main theme of aging in America and the difficulties and obstacles these individuals face on a daily basis, especially in terms of Social Security. The video covers a variety of situations that the elderly face and how America can work to make the lives easier especially in a world where our elderly population in growing. One example was in a hospital where they were able to integrate new techniques and systems to make it easier for people to work longer into their lives. The main themes of Sharon Kaufman’s journal article were health care and the reform of current plans, and discussion of life-prolonging procedures. She discusses the three main procedures used in the U.S. which are organ transplantation, cardiac procedures, and cancer treatments. Finally, Segal’s text covers the themes and policies related to aging and elderly population. She discusses the acts and programs that have been put into place such as the Older Americans Act of 1965, social security, pensions, and Medicare/Medicaid, along with a variety of others.

1.) What difficulties—from retiring baby boomers in the United States to a graying China, to the massive overhang of Europe’s elderly—can private corporations, governments, and other sectors expect as the aging revolution unfolds across the globe? How will changing demographics affect workforce composition? Retirement age? Pension outlays? Taxation? Immigration? Economic growth? How can governments, corporations, and nongovernmental organizations work together to address these issues?

The rapid growth in the number of seniors in America and around the world is creating a global demographic revolution without precedent. During this century, advances in hygiene and water supply and control of infectious diseases have reduced the risk of premature death much. As a result, the proportion of population over 60 years in the world is growing faster than in any previous era. In 1950 there were approximately 200 million people aged over 60 worldwide. By 2000 there will be over 550 million, and by 2025, the number of people over 60 is expected to reach 1,200 million.

According to the recent studies the older people as compared to the youth are becoming more economically and demographically attractive. However, there are costs of an aging population that the society bears as a whole. (Andrews, 2009)

Data from the Census Bureau tell us that in 2015, there are around 47.8 million Americans age 65 and older, up from about 25.5 million just 35 years ago; demographers predict that in another 35 years, there will be nearly 88 million Americans in this age group. The rate of growth of the “oldest old” population—those age 85 and older—is even more dramatic: Their numbers currently stand at approximately 6.3 million, but by 2050, that number will have almost tripled, to 18.7 million Americans. This population explosion is unprecedented in history, and the resulting demographic shift is causing profound social and economic changes.

While these aspects of society certainly do impact a nation with a growing older population, they are not the most problematic. Financial instability of the country should not be the spotlight of concern, but as people are living longer, people should be more concerned with that the typical life should look different in the future. With this in mind, the article proposes other areas of concern: lack of incentive for volunteering, little to no new education for older adults, and massive technological change with no way for older generations to learn how to use it. If these areas are not provided with change, it will ultimately lead to economic hardship for the elderly, due to the lack of new education and technological knowledge, which would, in turn, able them to work longer. If older generations were able to stay in the workforce longer, our aging society, which people believe may eventually not have a large enough work force, would be able to avoid this presumed

Recently, Statistic Canada has point out “Seniors are projected to become more numerous than children in Canada by 2017 --- a milestone in the country’s history.” (Statistics Canada, 2016) To discuss more in depth, according to the data collected from Statistic Canada, there is a post-war baby boom in 1950s, afterwards, there has been a steady decline in fertility. The median age in Canada was 27.2 in 1956 and climbed to 39.5 in 2006 (Statistics Canada, 2016). With the decrease in fertility and mortality, the problem of aging population in Canada occurs. In present time, those great number of baby boomers are now leave to workforce and begin to retire. It results in the rise of Canada’s elderly dependency ration. (National Seniors Council(Canada), 2011) For elders, the performance in many physical and mental tasks tend to decline with age, which

There is no doubt that the ageing population is a subject which has attracted much attention of Governments and communities in the world. Even in Australia, it is considered as one of the most crucial challenges which will have to confront in the next 25 years ( Hugo, 2014). Population ageing is defined as a change in the age structure of a country toward older ages. This is the repercussion of many elements such as the declining fertility rate, baby boom period and advanced technology in medical and healthcare extending longevity.While a number of studies have been done into proving this trend having several negative effects, it can be argued that there are many beneficial impacts both on national economy and society. This essay aims to look at the positive influences of older population on the workforce, then the Australian Government Budget, and finally the community.

Increased tax burden on working age populationThe group of ‘oldest old’ (85 and over) have a age related health problems e.g. arthritis, dementia, and cancer.

Australia’s ageing population is increasing rapidly. A primary cause of this is due to the ageing baby boomers expected to account for 25 per cent of Australians aged over 65 by 2047. (Treasury, 2007) Across the coming century Australia is anticipated to age for two reasons, a decreasing fertility rate and a rise in life expectancy. (Treasury, 2007)

Ever Since World War II, Earth’s population has increased by over 250 percent. As of now, Earth’s population is the highest it has ever been. A low fertility rate and an aging population can be the major cause for a dilemma relating to population, with negative social and economic effects. An aging population will be very hard to support financially from the working class, which is ever-declining. If Canada’s population continues to age, the working class will not be able to economically support seniors. The most rapidly growing demographic class in Canada happens to be seniors, and we have been seeing and predicting results of this growth. Since 1921, the population of older adults has more than doubled, and by 1926, it is predicted that one in five Canadians will be over sixty five. One in three Canadians will be older than the age fifty five in only four short years. Moreover, Canada spends billions of dollars helping older adults which includes providing old-age homes, healthcare…etc. Canada’s cost of healthcare is estimated to increase by 35 percent. Taxes in Canada will have to be raised if our publicly supported healthcare is to be secured. Still more, there are plenty more drawbacks to an aging population such as a decreasing working class and tax base. The demographic future puts the government sustainability in danger as taxes will not be coming in as freely as they would with a larger working class. Not only is Canada

Over years, longevity increases with the help of medicine and medical treatments. However, society haven’t planned for this yet. This is creating many problems to elderly themselves and people who are responsible to take care of them. This process of an aging society occur in every places around the world, specifically United States in this essay.

Over the years, there have been major shifts within the United States in regards to its population. Statisticians have estimated that 20% of the population will be 65 years of age and older. There is an even

From 1970 to the year 2000, the world's over-60 population is projected to increase by more than 90 percent" . This is an astonishing number, seeming how the total population was predicted to grow by less than 75 percent . "The most prominent feature of the looming shift in the composition of the working-age population is, of course, its increasing age" . It is hard to say what will happen when suddenly there will be an abundance of older people who are preparing to retire.

The world’s population is ageing rapidly. Between 2000 and 2050, the proportion of the world's older adults is estimated to double from about 11% to 22%. In absolute terms, this is an expected increase from 605 million to 2 billion people over the age of 60.