In the future it is expected that the proportion of older people will be higher than that of young people in many developed countries. Is this a positive or negative development?

Population

ageing is a forecasted trend in many industrialized nations, which has long been a perplexing issue of huge public attention.

This

essay would attempt to highlight the pros and cons of

this

population

growth pattern and argue in favour of the latter

one

. On the

one

hand, the escalation in the elderly

population

as compared to the younger

one

may be beneficial for society. The most noticeable

one

is that the future

population

may become more experienced and knowledgeable. Considered as a living treasure of knowledge, the older people undeniably have accumulated more experience than the younger ones, enabling them to make wiser decisions when encountering problems in life. They can

also

be able to offer invaluable pieces of advice to youngsters.

For instance

, retired professionals can still act as advisors to the companies and institutions in their profession so as to pass on their knowledge to the

next

generations.

On the other hand

,

population

ageing can exert a handful of repercussions on social development, which may eclipse the benefits of

this

trend. The most noticeable

one

is the heavier burdens placed on the national welfare system if life spans are widened. The longer the life expectancy, the larger amount of pension payments and subsidies have to be made by insurance companies and the government, deteriorating their budgets.

Thus

, fewer public investments can be allocated to other essential societal aspects

such

as healthcare, infrastructure or economic development.

Moreover

, the dip in the young

population

can trigger a drain in the national labour force as there are fewer people in the working ages. The lack of staff can detrimentally impact business productivity, causing a hindrance to socio-economic growth. In conclusion, the increased proportion of the elderly as compared to that of young people may exert both positive and adverse impacts on society with side effects taking the dominance.