Population
Posted: Wed Jul 15, 2015 7:24 am
Q: In many countries, the proportion of elderly people is increasing.Do the advantages of this trend outweigh the disadvantages?
The population aging is likely to be a phenomenon which is inevitable, however, from my personal perspective, this trend will damage not only the harmonious family life but also the further development of countries.
Some people may argue that an extended family structure could be a promotion for adults to support their elder parents and the retired senior people could also provide a help to take care of children. Undoubtedly, living with their children could make elderly people feel less isolated and disconnected from their relatives and society, and the spare time they used are mainly to look after their grandchildren which may relief the burden of their children from caring for the whole family.
However, from the perspective of living pressure and social development, the trend of population aging will cause some serious consequences. For those single- children families, children have the pressure to support their parents after they grow up, which means they need to caring for both their parents and children. The increasing numbers of elderly people will result in more serious situation that they are supposed to work even harder and longer to support the family. For the governments, aged population means more advanced technology and large amount of fundings should be invest in the improvement of the medical and welfare system. All of those investments are an increasingly financial burden for taxpayers and businesses and the long-term unbalanced allocation of fundings may cause the resource shortages in military and police force which consists of the most essential part of the safety the country.
Overall, I would suggest that aged population will bring more disadvantages rather than advantages and therefore more measures to control the increasing numbers of elder people such as the childbirth encouragement should be taken.
The population aging is likely to be a phenomenon which is inevitable, however, from my personal perspective, this trend will damage not only the harmonious family life but also the further development of countries.
Some people may argue that an extended family structure could be a promotion for adults to support their elder parents and the retired senior people could also provide a help to take care of children. Undoubtedly, living with their children could make elderly people feel less isolated and disconnected from their relatives and society, and the spare time they used are mainly to look after their grandchildren which may relief the burden of their children from caring for the whole family.
However, from the perspective of living pressure and social development, the trend of population aging will cause some serious consequences. For those single- children families, children have the pressure to support their parents after they grow up, which means they need to caring for both their parents and children. The increasing numbers of elderly people will result in more serious situation that they are supposed to work even harder and longer to support the family. For the governments, aged population means more advanced technology and large amount of fundings should be invest in the improvement of the medical and welfare system. All of those investments are an increasingly financial burden for taxpayers and businesses and the long-term unbalanced allocation of fundings may cause the resource shortages in military and police force which consists of the most essential part of the safety the country.
Overall, I would suggest that aged population will bring more disadvantages rather than advantages and therefore more measures to control the increasing numbers of elder people such as the childbirth encouragement should be taken.
