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 an ageing
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 the greater society
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 means that for every individual exiting the 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 the developed part of the world are faced with the challenging obstacle of an 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.