According to HelpAge
International’s Global AgeWatch Index, Norway is currently the best country on
a 96 country list to grow old in. This index measures the socioeconomic welfare
of adults aged over 60 in countries such as North America, Europe, Australia,
Afghanistan, and many more. The most recent report predicts that 21% of the
world’s population will be over the age of 60 by 2050, and in this same year 40
countries in the index will have over 30% of their populations consist of
people over the age of 60. The UN has recently announced that by 2030, the amount
of the population will be 1.4 billion.
It’s great to know that The U.S.
ranks very highly on this index; however, there are some very pressing
underlying matters. Having elderly people is great because they are big
contributors to health care related profits, but too many old people can
definitely become a problem, especially in the U.S. where the Baby Boomers are
the main recipients of social security and are sucking up all the social
security. It isn’t a surprise that in 2050 the world population will be 21%
elderly, because that is when most baby boomers (those born between 1946 and
1964) will be 86 and older. Having such a high elderly population can be both
advantageous and disadvantageous to a country’s economy and the world’s economy
for that matter.
With such a high portion of the
world’s population consisting of elderly people the health care industry will
definitely see increased growth, and as these elderly people are leaving the
labor force in the years before 2050 and they need more care, there could also
be an influx of jobs. However, at the same time that the health care sector
will be seeing increased growth as these elderly people are seeking care,
families will most likely be struggling as a whole to take care of such a large
elderly population. There will definitely be a lot of elderly people struggling
because they haven’t properly saved and prepared for retirement. This will in
turn put an economic burden on their families who will be forced to take care
of them, and make it harder for these younger families to save. This could
possibly create a Pandora box type situation for the future in terms of
families not being able to take care of the elderly. Lastly, since the upper
class and lower class gap is broadening and the middle class is disappearing,
there will be even fewer elderly people economically fit to take care of
themselves in the future.
source: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-29426285
I found this article to offer an insightful look on the soon to be economy given the future status of the "baby boomers". Undoubtedly we will have a greater demand in the health care industry because of the increase in senior citizens, and how we will simply just need the people to take care of them. Also, it will more than likely create a lot of job opportunity for people in the work force given the retirement of these people. One major concern is will the government be able to support the large population qualified for social security, and is the government ready to do so.
ReplyDeleteI think with the baby boomers beginning to enter retirement it will help the economy because there will be a larger demand for jobs in health care. The tough question would be what will happen when the next generation starts to retire and there's less of a demand for jobs in health care.
ReplyDeleteLuckily for us in the United States even with a growing elderly population we still have a large enough workforce to replace people leaving the workforce that it is not a big issue. While it may create an issue for families it will not hurt the U.S economy as a whole. In Japan it is a problem because they do not have enough workers to replace the ones leaving the workforce and it is hurting the economy. This is a benefit because the growing elderly population creates a lot of jobs for people in healthcare and other associated industries.
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