Ageing populations
Geography Essay- Ageing populations
Question: Examine the implications of either an ageing or youthful population
By definition, an ageing population is a population where the median age is rising; there is a decline in the amount of children (or minors-under 18), and an increase in the number of elderly people. In other terms, it is a population where the number of elderly is increasing relative to the number of youth. Increased life expectancy combined with declining birth rates have caused many to worry about the cost of an ageing population. The dependency ratio is a measure showing the number of dependents (aged 0-14 and over the age of 65) to the total population (aged 15-64)
The ageing population in Japan is mostly caused by a number of things, like a decline in fertility rate, improved national health and a baby boom around 80 years ago after World War II.
There are many effects that this ageing population can cause. The number of old people poses a growing age-related dependency burden on the active populations. This economic burden is mostly growing in Asia and Europe; most of the countries in Europe like the UK, Germany and France provide nursing homes, while other countries like Japan provide life-long health insurance. The negative effect of the nursing homes in most countries is the stains on the National Health System (NHS) and government money as more funds are needed to provide medical care to the elderly.
There will also be an increase in the dependency ratio. If the retirement age remains fixed, and the life expectancy increases, there will be relatively more people claiming pension benefits and less people working and paying income taxes. The fear is that it will require high tax rates on the current, shrinking workforce. As fertility levels decline, the dependency ratio falls initially because the proportion of children decreases while the proportion of the population of working age increases. However, as fertility levels continue to
Question: Examine the implications of either an ageing or youthful population
By definition, an ageing population is a population where the median age is rising; there is a decline in the amount of children (or minors-under 18), and an increase in the number of elderly people. In other terms, it is a population where the number of elderly is increasing relative to the number of youth. Increased life expectancy combined with declining birth rates have caused many to worry about the cost of an ageing population. The dependency ratio is a measure showing the number of dependents (aged 0-14 and over the age of 65) to the total population (aged 15-64)
The ageing population in Japan is mostly caused by a number of things, like a decline in fertility rate, improved national health and a baby boom around 80 years ago after World War II.
There are many effects that this ageing population can cause. The number of old people poses a growing age-related dependency burden on the active populations. This economic burden is mostly growing in Asia and Europe; most of the countries in Europe like the UK, Germany and France provide nursing homes, while other countries like Japan provide life-long health insurance. The negative effect of the nursing homes in most countries is the stains on the National Health System (NHS) and government money as more funds are needed to provide medical care to the elderly.
There will also be an increase in the dependency ratio. If the retirement age remains fixed, and the life expectancy increases, there will be relatively more people claiming pension benefits and less people working and paying income taxes. The fear is that it will require high tax rates on the current, shrinking workforce. As fertility levels decline, the dependency ratio falls initially because the proportion of children decreases while the proportion of the population of working age increases. However, as fertility levels continue to