Challenges that Aging Population Pose - Research Paper Example

Challenges that Aging Population Pose Challenges posed by the aging population Introduction There is a high alarm on the adverse effect of the older generation to the economic and business performances. In this regard, an aging population raises fundamental and formidable challenges but still, the challenges can be solved. For example, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) 20 years ago presented the challenge that result from caring for the older generation as a major problem in the Canadian Medical system. Some policy analysts and health economists stipulate that the demographic potential bomb is just but a minor factor that the health system can accommodate with much ease (Committee on Population, 2012). The difference in opinion is as a result of new findings of health care resources usage by the elderly and also from the recognition of the responses of elder patient in the past. Conversely, these changes bring some opportunities since people have longer and healthy lives. This essay is to present the challenges posed by an aging population and how the government, society and the businesses have responded to the whole issue. First, it is important to see the reason as to why the population is aging by looking at the population trends in the past half century (Neumark, 2009). Trend in Population patterns Aging people are in most countries of the world. There are some factors behind this trend. For instance, longevity has increased in most parts of the world compared to the previous years. Globally, the life expectancy has increased from the age of 48 years in the 50s to 68 years presently. For the past 50 years, community division project aims to make the expectancy reach 76 years. In addition, the fertility rate of the world fell from five kids per woman in the 1950s to approximately 2.5 presently. Fertility is further projected to decline to about 2.2 in the next 50 years. Similarly, aging of a large number of children born after the World War II coupled by an equal boom elsewhere in the world are leading to a generation of an older people. UN estimates that the global number of old people will increase from 800 million currently to more than 2 billion by 2050 (equivalent to 22 percent of the entire population) (Shapner, 2006) Challenges posed by the Aging Population Aging of a community presents many challenges and raises concerns on the pace of the future economic progress, financial integrity of pension systems and health care services and operation, and the health of the elderly (Shapner, 2006). Quality and Size of the Labor Force Economic prosperity of any given economy depends crucially on the quality and size of the labor force to be productive and maximize on the available resources. From the studies done, it is evident that as people pass the 50 year old mark, they are unlikely to engage in productive labor force. For example if the people passing the 50 year mark and beyond were productive, it, therefore, clear that the size of the productive labor force will decrease significantly. In the same vein, stocks of assets could also significantly reduce as more people are reliant on the savings in order to finance their unproductive lifestyle. Possible labor is tightening combined with poor saving ability of the elder generation raised concerns that the countries experiencing an aging population will have slow economic growth. Some economies may experience shrinkage in their economies (Neumark, 2009). The global participation (LFPR) has been on the decline and also estimates stipulates that this will decline in the future. Part of the decline is attributed to an aging population. As a result of declining in the fertility rates, the force in the labor sector has been on the increase. One major fear that surrounds the aging population is that there will be overdependence of the elderly unless the elderly generation participation in the labor force increases (Committee on Population, 2012). Non-communicable Disease (NDC) Aging population is a signal advent of non-communicable diseases (NDC) tidal wave. Non-communicable diseases are responsible for about 60 percent of deaths that are approximately 50% loss of the effective and actual life years as a result of deaths and disabilities. The diseases range from significant to a prevailing cause of death and disability in low and high income earning economies globally, and among persons classified as not old and old (working adults). The common Non-communicable diseases are CVD-cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and cancer. The disease has approximately four risk factors that are modifiable; physical inactivity, tobacco use, usage of alcohol, and unhealthy diets (Bersteim, Lev, & Dilʹman, 2005). Meanwhile, the non modifiable risk factor is age. Many people are never diagnosed with NCDs leading to costly treatments in the near future. In fact, care and treatment costs are relatively higher for NCDs with greater cost prospects than other diseases. In addition, the new technology introduced is relatively expensive to embrace since it is universal. Financial concerns the recent past, effort have been drawn towards the likely effects of an aging population on the prices of assets. More specifically, there have been the concern that price of assets will fall as the elderly people sell their assets. Some demographic analysts predicted housing market assets meltdown as a result of a decrease in demands from aged post World War II. Fortunate enough, the predictions have been to be pessimistic; Potential for change in policy as a mitigating factor suggests a moderate effect on the price of assets (Bersteim, Lev, & Dilʹman, 2005) Meanwhile, people have implications on pension schemes. PAYG (pay-as-you-go) which has been publicly funded face serious implication as the beneficiary numbers goes up with the low number of contributors. Systems that are fully funded are not necessarily the remedy, because they need a longer time to deliver pensions that are substantial. For post World War II members who have not so far saved it is very late to accumulate sufficient funds. Furthermore, pensions that are voluntary funded suffer from postponement syndrome, while the compulsory funded system creates problems in governance. Thus, incorporating both systems are a panacea is to those risks (Haerens, 2014.) Conclusion Aging of a community presents many challenges and raises concerns on the pace of the future economic development, financial integrity of pension systems and health care services and operation, and the health of the elderly. An aging population is detrimental to the growth of the economy. It poses challenges to the economy. For example in the business world, younger generation is preferred to the elder generation. In such an entity, the business should consider knowledge in terms of experience from the older generation in order to reduce overdependence ratio. From this article, it is evident that aging poses more challenges in terms of economic well being, health concerns and labor force. In itself, it is not a challenge if clear measures are put in place as embracing the older generation in the work force and also raising the retirement age. In the face of increasing number of elderly people, it is vital to embrace health services access, illness prevention, meeting the needs of frail elders and also planning effectively for geriatric services (Haerens, 2014.) References Bersteim, Lev, M., & Dilʹman, V. M. (2005). Hormones, Age, and Cancer. St. Petersburg: NAUKA. Committee on Population (2012). Aging an Macroeconomy: Long-term Implications of an Older Population. Washington, D.C.: National Academies. Haerens, M. (2014.). The Aging Population. Detroit: Cengage Learning, . Neumark, D. (2009). The Age Discrimination in Employment Act and the Challenge of Population Aging. Research on Aging 31.(1), 41-68. Shapner, S. L. (2006). Demographics of the United States. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers. Read More