Problems with an aging population *AS & IGCSE*

You can use this as a case study for IGCSE or AS (population/ resource relationship):

The problem with an ageing population

There are just over 61 countries in the world that don’t have enough births to replace their populations. Twenty-four of these countries are in Europe alone.

Impacts:

        -        Demand shifts from childcare centres to retirement homes. This further decreases the incentive for people to have more children.

          -        Many elderly people are requiring pensions. This is draining public spending allowances of the government.

-        More people are retiring later causing young workers to miss out on opportunities.

-        Family members will have to take care of elderly relatives

-        This means many young people miss out on jobs that are currently held by more experienced workers over the age of 65. This results in a rise in youth unemployment and unemployment in general.

-        70% of pensioners depend on state benefits for 50% of their income in the UK

-        5.4 million women in the UK are over 65

-        8% of people over the retirement age in the UK were employed

-        There was 10.7 million people over 50 in the UK

-        In 2009 in the UK over £62 billion was spent on state pensions

-        Japan’s birth rate sits currently at about 7.31 per 1000 per year (after falling from 10 per 1000 per year in 2001) and is far below the world average of 19 births per 1000 per year.

-        The TFR in Japan is 1.3, one of the lowest in the world and has decreased from a TFR of 5 in 1928. This means the working age group providing income to help the dependents will decrease to predicted values of only 51% of the population 2040 – 16% lower than in 2008.

-        As the population ages the more incidences of crimes against elderly are reported such as burglaries and scams. As the population ages the more incidences of crimes against elderly are reported such as burglaries and scams.

Management:

-        Discouraging early retirement

-        Raising the pension age to 67

-        Lowering the high turnover in labour caused by early retirement

-        Requiring workers to set up private pension accounts

-        Changing the mindset of employers to recognise the value of experience in the work force

Benefits:

-        More people involved in volunteer work

-        Crime rates will drop

-        More markets will open up due to the ageing population

-        Leisure services may increase and improved