In many countries the proportion of older people is steadily increasing. Some think this is good, while others believe this is a problem for a country. Discuss both views and give your own opinion.
In recent times, there has been a steady growth in the population of senior citizens in numerous countries around the world. Some people believe it to be good whereas others consider this as a serious issue. In my opinion, this is a serious problem and I shall discuss the issue with relevant examples.
It is commonly believed that, an older population is a sign of a developed nation along with numerous other benefits like reduced stress in populated areas and a more sustainable society. The population on the whole reduces as the number of old people rise inturn reducing the stress on the natural resources leading to an increase in the quality of living. For instance, as per a study conducted in the UK, in the last decade alone, a population increase of 10 percent among senior citizens has led to an increase in the quality of life by almost 20 percent.
However, there are many people who believe that an older population has a detrimental effect on the growth of the economy inturn affecting the future prospects of the countries facing this issue. A case in point being, as the population grows older the amount of government spending on health care and social security increase significantly, leading to reduced spending on more important aspects like education. To illustrate, as per the latest data UK spends 4 percent of its GDP on social security benefits to the elderly which is amongst the highest in comparison to other countries.
In conclusion, from the above discussion it can been inferred that although there are various positives of having a growing number of elderly in the population but the the negatives outweigh the advantages significantly.
