It is true that to a larger extend the human population, the world over, continues to bulge at a faster rate than can possibly be supported by the world’s resources. A major player to this is the influx in babies, post-World War II, which in turn, has resulted to a high number of aging people today. The world as a whole has to be prepared to deal with and manage these increasing numbers since they will tend to have a major impact on the economies of many countries in a few years to come. Things like increased spending on health care by governments, probably in addition to increases in the dependency ratio where there will be many people retiring, hence claiming pension benefits. There will also be a shortage of workers across the world as a result of the high numbers of those retiring (Colombo 2013). These and many other problems are a cause for concern and so this paper is going to address the reasons behind this problem and one better way of addressing it.
One main reason for this influx in numbers of old persons is the dramatic increase in life expectancy within the population of 65 and over. And this is even increasing further the lives of those persons that are already of very old ages. To take it into perspective, people who are aged 85 or older command 8% of the world’s population today and in many countries, these are the fastest growing section of the population. World over, this section of people is expected to grow by 351% by 2050. This is in comparison with an increase of 188% of people aged 65 or older. That by 2050, the number of people aged 80 and over will be 32 million is evidence that the somewhat progressive increase in the number of survival rates of old age people was not previously expected by demographers and it even still raises the question of just how far this issue of life expectancy can go ( Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project , 2014).
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Another reason for this influx within the US shall have been the big problem of the overall birthrate not matching the rate of replacement. It is projected that by 2050, the global birth rate shall have fallen to 12.2 births per 1000 people ( Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project , 2014). It is easy to note that since the World War II, these numbers have not ever improved, and that they this state of affairs only but looks set to worsen, going into the future. Today, many of these fertility rates are caused by many social trends like decline in marriage rates, the ever rising cost of taking care of children, and the high number of women taking up education and corporate opportunities, contributing to the soaring numbers of old persons as compared to the young.
In the coming years, technology in human health and other medical advances will prove vital to the improvement of life expectancy among the old. Especially in the US, new feeding programs and medical solutions to certain chronic diseases means that people of old age have a more life expectancy percentage as the years go by (Colombo 2013). Good health means a long life and with the projection in numbers that we have already witnessed, the world is set for even more shocking numbers in this department. It is only logical that we all start preparing for how to accommodate these numbers and how to solve the gap they leave behind
It is obvious that many economies around the world have an ageing and shrinking population and hence face high chances of being affected. One major department to be overwhelmed in the US considering that it has the highest influx in old age numbers is the health care system since many of these ageing population will need medical attention. It is with no doubt that a credible immigration policy would benefit many of the developed countries in a bid to stabilize their respective labor forces. To put in perspective, some countries like Germany will be needing a net immigration of over 5000 personnel to help solve this problem ( Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project , 2014). Younger, more flexible and qualified immigrants will prove favorable to the outcome of trying to slow down the process of ageing and at the same time managing the stability of the economy. These immigrants will come in handy, and in various ways. First of all, with old age comes chronic illnesses and with the said illnesses, usually comes disability, which means that many of these old people will remain in need of long-term care services, these shall include; nursing homes, adult day cares, mass housing and many more. All these need extra manpower in the form of nurses and their assistants, personal care helpers, home health aides and other personnel like unskilled paraprofessionals to ease the burden of caregiving. In 2020, the nurse workforce will be close to 20% below the expected requirement which calls for such measures to be called into perspective. An immigration policy to carefully recruit personnel that are equal to this task will see benefits for both the old population and for their respective governments, also considering that this workforce can be managed at relatively lower, manageable wage rates. It is of importance though, that these nations cultivate other policies that shall help to integrate these immigrants into the societies into which they shall come.
References
Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project. (2014). Project . Chapter 4. Population Change in the U.S. and the World from 1950 to 2050 . Retrieved 24 February 2017, from http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/01/30/chapter-4-population-change-in-the-u-s-and-the-world-from-1950-to-2050/
Colombo, F. (2013). How Growth of Elderly Population in U.S. Compares With Other Countries . PBS NewsHour . Retrieved 24 February 2017, from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/how-growth-of-elderly-population-in-us-compares-with-other-countries/
