Between 1946 and 1964, the world noticed a significant, and until then, unrivalled rise in birth. That very period of continuous birth is well-known as “Baby Boom“ and was considered as a real blessing after the disaster of World War II. Nevertheless, the blessed generation is now getting older and gradually generates senior citizens. Consequently, the world is nowadays facing the phenomenon of an ageing population and its consequences.
According to the World Bank’s datas concerning ageing population, since 2010, the number of people aged 65 and above is constantly increasing. This tendency is greatly emphasised by the current falling birth rates ; indeed, the fertility rate tends to decrease, if it is not already very low (The World Bank). …show more content…
Furthermore, “medical researchers expect that a life expectancy of 90 or more will soon become the norm“ (Pearce, 2010, pp 286). As a result, if the ageing population is actually threatening society with serious problems, I strongly believe that an ageing population is not such a burden, and even shows real benefits.
!
! On the one hand, the world ageing population is likely to cause major problems for society within the next few decades.
! First of all, this phenomenon is gradually leading to geographical imbalance. As
Pearce (2010) states, the increasing number of elderlies will bring about the disappearance of some rural areas, especially in Southern Europe and Japan, where some places are deserted by the young and only the older stayed without any sufficient income to maintain the village or area. Moreover, ageing population associated with the falling in birth rates will lead to “soon reach the point where each succeeding generation of mothers will be smaller than the last“ (Pearce, 2010, pp 293-294), which means that the number of births will not counterbalance the number of deaths, so the population will not be able to naturally renew.
1
! Besides, some economical issues result from “the demographic time bomb“. …show more content…
Similarly, they are a support for their own family ; Pearce (2010) gives the true example of some South-African families he met and who fully depend on the grandparents, who take care of their children dying from HIV and their grandchildren left behind, their pension being the only income for the whole family.
! Finally, the notion of old age is progressively altering. The so called old being “more active, assertive and independent“ (Pearce 2010), it is now difficult to define what age is old ; 65, 70, 75 or over (Murray, February 2014) ? That leads us to distinguish between two categories of senior citizens : over 64s and over 74s (Mullan, 2000).
! In a nutshell, even though ageing population tends to increasingly affect the world, those issues do not prevail on the benefits this ageing population implies. Indeed, the main problem towards this phenomenon is mainly the alarmism that surrounds it (Mullan, 2000).
Also, it does not seem possible to make a worldwide statement about senior citizens, given that the perception of this population group and its effects differs from one country to another. In other words, if those different points of view were really taken
According to the World Bank’s datas concerning ageing population, since 2010, the number of people aged 65 and above is constantly increasing. This tendency is greatly emphasised by the current falling birth rates ; indeed, the fertility rate tends to decrease, if it is not already very low (The World Bank). …show more content…
Furthermore, “medical researchers expect that a life expectancy of 90 or more will soon become the norm“ (Pearce, 2010, pp 286). As a result, if the ageing population is actually threatening society with serious problems, I strongly believe that an ageing population is not such a burden, and even shows real benefits.
!
! On the one hand, the world ageing population is likely to cause major problems for society within the next few decades.
! First of all, this phenomenon is gradually leading to geographical imbalance. As
Pearce (2010) states, the increasing number of elderlies will bring about the disappearance of some rural areas, especially in Southern Europe and Japan, where some places are deserted by the young and only the older stayed without any sufficient income to maintain the village or area. Moreover, ageing population associated with the falling in birth rates will lead to “soon reach the point where each succeeding generation of mothers will be smaller than the last“ (Pearce, 2010, pp 293-294), which means that the number of births will not counterbalance the number of deaths, so the population will not be able to naturally renew.
1
! Besides, some economical issues result from “the demographic time bomb“. …show more content…
Similarly, they are a support for their own family ; Pearce (2010) gives the true example of some South-African families he met and who fully depend on the grandparents, who take care of their children dying from HIV and their grandchildren left behind, their pension being the only income for the whole family.
! Finally, the notion of old age is progressively altering. The so called old being “more active, assertive and independent“ (Pearce 2010), it is now difficult to define what age is old ; 65, 70, 75 or over (Murray, February 2014) ? That leads us to distinguish between two categories of senior citizens : over 64s and over 74s (Mullan, 2000).
! In a nutshell, even though ageing population tends to increasingly affect the world, those issues do not prevail on the benefits this ageing population implies. Indeed, the main problem towards this phenomenon is mainly the alarmism that surrounds it (Mullan, 2000).
Also, it does not seem possible to make a worldwide statement about senior citizens, given that the perception of this population group and its effects differs from one country to another. In other words, if those different points of view were really taken