In the future, there will be more older people than younger people in most countries. Is this a positive or negative development?
In the years to come, the elderly generation will outnumber the youth in most places. However, this is unfavourable development because of the increase in dependency ratio and health care cost. These will be expatriated in the following paragraphs.
To begin with, the rapidly ageing population will expand the dependency rate. The number of dependants( the aged) to the working population (the youngsters) will increase. The old people, especially those of retirement age, mainly depend on young people. Hence, a country with a higher rate of them will rely on the general population of workers for taxes to pay pension benefits and other government-funded schemes designed for them. Consequently, the massive responsibility of catering for these people will be on the shoulder of the few available youths.
Furthermore, the advancement will cause an extra burden on the health sector. Demand for health care services rises with age, so in the future, when there are more adults, the country will have to allocate a large number of resources to the health care system at the expense of others. Similarly, healthcare providers will also share the burden because few working age means small manpower to meet this high demand for healthcare.
To reiterate, the high population of elders in the future disadvantages outweigh the advantages. This is because the dependent proportion to employed age will be heightened, and the amount to be spent on health care will double the current cost.
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