Question

You will download (and look over) the PDF that provides statistics and graphics that illustrate the demographics of an aging population. Specifically, you will use the information to hypothesize about the impact of an aging population on each of the following topics: Social security Health care Recreation Housing/Living Arrangements Occupation Political activity Relationships/Companionship For example, how would an aging population impact social security (in terms of funding, the age cut off, etc.). You will need to be as through as possible in your examples; provide justification AND citations for where you are getting your information. After you have created your hypotheses, you will need to answer the following two questions: Overall, what are some of the effects on society as generations reach retirement age? As a young(er) person, what could you do to help yourself when you become older? Permission granted and lesson adapted from Ithaca ColGerontology Institute

Answer 1

Impact of an aging population on Social security

Larger the aging population greater will be the need to support them. Aging population are prone to vast number of health issues which in turn will affect their quality of life. They tend to skip or abandon jobs and might end up being jobless. This disturbs the balance in the society which the government had established by offering monetory assistance to selective candidates. The governemnt will be forced to device a strategy to accumulate enough funds or divert funds from other domains to secure the needs of the aging population with no source or less source of income.

Simone Rensch, US social security ‘can’t cope with ageing population’ ,15 Mar 19, Public Finance International.

Impact of an aging population on Health care

Long term care as well as health care support for elderly people have become daunting task for the experts in health care departments. The health care departments are forced to update their procedures, administration and monitoring methodologies specially suited for elderly people besides those that are available for young population and middle age population. Due to the higher demand in support for the aging population there exists a crisis in equally focusing on the rest of the categories of population, irrespective of the avaialble technologies, insurances, etc. Payers (government and private) are forced to look into alternatives to efficiently serve all the categories of population. The medical research data avialable from the case studies have been used to create expensive policies that focus on the long term, complex procedures, expensive treatments. These have generated an uncertaininty among the younger as well as middle age population greatly.

Mendelson DN, Schwartz WB. The effects of aging and population growth on health care costs. Health Aff (Millwood). 1993 Spring;12(1):119-25.

Recreation Housing/Living Arrangements

Aging population who couldn't support themselves with retirements or find alternatives to be financially stable have to be taken care by private and government welfare agencies. The lack of jobs for the youth and middle age people and their inability to find food, shelter and clothing have further created an exponentially developing crisis. Development of residential facilities with multiple facilities such as long time care, point of care health support have been made mantory for localities with larger population. The localities with these facilities are found to be flooded with requests followed by floating/migrating aging population. The facilites to cater the needs of the carious population further becomes ciritcal for the private and government agencies.

Residential Facilities, Assisted Living, and Nursing Homes. National Institute of Aging. U.S Department of Health and Human Services.

Occupation

The aging population have been cited as one of many factors that influence declining productivity, higher labor costs, delayed business expansion and reduced international competitiveness, for the devleoped as well as developing countires. In order to provide incentive to increase the quality of life the aging population industries have been forced to tweak up their production strategies, marketing strategies, increase in the overall price of the serive or product delivered. This in turn affects the country's economy indirectly. The short supply of effectient working population might push up wages resulting in wage inflation.

Ref: Tejvan Pettinger, July 20, 2016, The impact of an ageing population on the economy, Economics help.

Political activity

Political parties have a vulnerable, easily manipulatable population through the aging population. Higher the aging population, higher is the need for addressing thier concerns. Hence, political parties use their strategies to devleop facilities for the aging population. Thus, sustaining the support of the population for their victories. By focusing on the needs of the aging population some of the dire needs of the young population and middle population have been neglected by some of the state governments.

Ref: Ince Yenilmez, Economic and Social Consequences of Population Aging the Dilemmas and Opportunities in the Twenty-First Century. M. Applied Research Quality Life (2015) 10: 735.

Relationships/Companionship

Aging population improves the ambience of an environment, irrespective thier negative impacts on various other domains of social life. "A economy of a nation only as strong as the youths and as wise as the elders are". Aging population brings the responsibilites among the rest of the population categories by giving them a living example of decision making, self improvement, planning a future etc. A 20-30 year old individual could be trained effeciently and guided to lead a ethical as well as moal life by elders of age 55-65.

Companionship is an unspoken yet powerful benfit of senior living. 10 Jan 2018. Sun Health Communities.

Overall, what are some of the effects on society as generations reach retirement age?

As the generations reach retirement age, a society faces a crisis in providing long term care, free medical facilities, jobs, financial support, equally to everybody. This affects the overall joblessness and the population that require support. Due to this vulnerability a drop in morals, ethics of the youth could be observed for monetory gains. The same shall also be attibuted to the lack of effecitve government policies to address the needs of youth and well as retired population.

All these drawbacks are not crisis but a manageable problems with the help of government without partiality standards.

As a young(er) person, what could you do to help yourself when you become older?

As a young person, i plan to responsibly as well as sensibly invest on policies that can cover my future health needs, pension, other assistanship. I plan to take up jobs that can help me develop soft skills such as repairing/servicing automobiles, playing music instruments, writing books, etc., that could be used at any point of time in life, even after retirement to earn for my living as well as for my family. Important, i am determined to stay as healthy/fit as possible to approach the old age and retired life with a capable mind and able body.