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

It is true that many countries are experiencing a considerable increase in life expectancy due to the development in all areas of the world.
Although
there will be undoubtedly some negative effects of
this
trend, these potential problems can be mitigated if several practical solutions are implemented. As the trend of an
aging
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ageing
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population
, several related issues can be anticipated. One primary challenge is that it could place a greater burden on the
healthcare
system because of the growth in elderly populations.
That is
to say, the old tend to face more chronic diseases
such
as diabetes, high blood
pressure
, and that requires long-term medical treatment which is extremely expensive.
As a result
, governments might have to spend a substantial budget on
healthcare
to serve those demands and
this
will put increased financial
pressure
on old-age support systems.
Further
pressure
can be put on the economy due to the workforce shortage. A major factor leading to
this
problem is that the working-age
population
who pay income taxes decline while there would be an increase in the proportion of retired people claiming pension benefits. The combination of these trends could lead to lots of negative consequences to both government spending and the quality of countries’ economies.
However
,
this
is not an insurmountable issue and many measures could be taken to manage the risks associated with
population
aging
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ageing
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. One solution to overcome
this
problem would be for governments to support
healthcare
for all by focusing on prevention
such
as a healthy lifestyle
instead
of providing treatment, which would result in improving the health quality of the elderly. By doing
this
, the
pressure
put on the
healthcare
system could be deducted. Another temporary way to solve these problems is to raise the official retirement age so that the number of the working
population
could increase.
Although
this
step could be effective immediately, people should focus on long-term measures by educating about money management and saving for retirement.
This
could make older people have the ability to take care of themselves so that it will reduce the burden on both governments and individual’s budgets. In conclusion, various measures can be taken to tackle the problems that are certain to arise as growing in the size and proportion of older persons in many countries’ populations
Submitted by Andy on

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Topic Vocabulary:
  • average life expectancy
  • developed world
  • increase
  • individuals
  • society
  • personal goals
  • ambitions
  • quality of life
  • leisure
  • recreation
  • healthcare costs
  • challenges
  • healthcare system
  • ageing population
  • shortage
  • available workers
  • economy
  • retirement planning
  • healthy lifestyles
  • investing
  • social support systems
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