The baby boomers are arriving, and they are arriving into the ‘senior’ category. All around the world, the number of seniors is expanding off the charts. The US Census Bureau released data this week showing that the number of seniors will be greater than the number of children under the age of 5, which is a very rare situation. A study based on the census report titled “An Aging World: 2008″ published the following findings:
- The world’s oldest country is…Japan! 21% of Japan’s population is over the age of 65, compared to 13% in the U.S. The study points out, however, that because of the good ‘ol baby boomers, the U.S. will probably win this category relatively soon.
- In the year 2006, zero biological children were born to women between the ages of 40 and 44.
- Europe is the oldest continent, because it holds 23 of the 35 countries found to be the “oldest.”
- A set of people over the age of 80 are called the “oldest old,” and the number of the oldest old is growing faster than any other population category in most countries.
- Developed countries have more seniors.
Some of these findings come as no surprise, such as the first one. We have all been waiting with our breaths held while the baby boomers age and our society shifts to accommodate. I will assume that no one is surprised that China would win a category when it comes to any number of people (although if we have learned anything, it is that the whole age thing is relatively sketchy when it comes to China).
The second finding is just odd. I’m not exactly sure what would make the researchers pull this statistic, but they claim that this may be a problem in the future when that set of women do not have children to take care of them. I’m sure that the children they had prior to forty will be sufficient; or the children born to them in 2005 or 2007. Don’t worry too much about these ladies, they’ll be fine.
The most important part of this study is not the specifics, however, it is the effect that this data will have on each nation’s society. I can’t speak for other countries, but as far as the United States goes, the aging population will most likely have the most profound effect on the health care system (and probably something to do with retirement benefits, banks, etc, but I don’t understand any of that). The aging population, and I truly do not mean any disrespect, will be using greater than 70% of the nation’s health care funds. This is because the elderly are already using 70% as of 2008, so with the number of seniors increasing exponentially, we can expect this to increase.
In addition to funds being funneled into this newly aging population, there remains the question of who will be administering health care. Will there be enough physicians to take on the new load? As we all know, the elderly are generally the sickest, and in almost all cases have compounding medical problems rather than one. Nearly all seniors suffer from one to three chronic conditions, and cancer is prevalent. The health care reform that may take place not far from now should certainly take into account that the physicians will be the saviors of this era. Money will not solve this impending situation.
