In the developed world, average life expectancy is increasing. What problems will this cause for individuals and society? Suggest some measures that could be taken to reduce the impact of ageing populations.

Average

age

of human beings is increasing progressively in developed countries.

This

essay will suggest that the biggest problem caused by

this

is financial turbulence at an individual

level

and inadequate deployment of resources at a societal

level

and will suggest how an increase in

population

can be used to neutralize the effects of

ageing

Suggestion

an ageing population

population

. The foremost problem caused by ageing is financial dependency. An average individual, retires at the

age

of 60 years and

subsequently

relies on social security benefits provided by the Government. These benefits only cover the basic life needs and in no way can make up for the income stream lost due to exiting the work force.

Moreover

, with the passage of time, their savings

also

dry up, leaving them with even less money.

Consequently

, many old people who live longer than normal either become financially dependent on their children or get themselves enrolled in old

age

centres.

For instance

, a recent study showed that people over the

age

of 70 years actually receive a financial stipend of some sort from their family members to make ends meet. Ageing

also

has implications at

greater society

Suggestion

the greater society level

level

. We must bear in mind that social security programmes are funded primarily by tax payer’s money and once an individual retires, they stop paying taxes.

This

puts an extra strain on the Government and they find it difficult to mobilize resources to invest in other public infrastructure projects like schools, hospitals etc. A possible solution to

this

problem is that governments should promote pro natal policies. By increasing

population

numbers, a country would have more young people to replace retirees in the workforce. Developed countries like Japan have traditionally experienced a very low worker to retiree ratio for

decades which

Accept comma addition

decades, which

means that for every individual exiting the

work force

the force of workers available

workforce

, there are not enough people to replace them. So if a reasonable growth in

population

is achieved in the upcoming years, more and more young people will start contributing to the tax revenues.

This

in turn will restore equilibrium in the social security program and will

also

allow the authorities to channelize funds to other important sectors of the economy. To conclude, countries in

developed part

Suggestion

developed parts

the developed part

of the world are faced with the challenging obstacle of ageing

population

.

This

has resulted in problems at an individual as well as at the societal

level

. But the government through some proactive measures

such

as pro natal policies can overcome problems that ageing brings.