In the developed world, average life expectancy is increasing. What problems will this cause for individuals and society? Suggest some measures that could be taken to reduce the impact of ageing populations.
Affluent societies have been witnessing an although commendable phenomenon, which have also become a source of unease, people are living longer, well into their advanced age. This could have serious implications not only for people but also for society as well, which makes it imperative to discover plausible way outs.
The direct calamity of such an evolution are the individuals themselves as they are expected to survive longer, there is a great probability that in their autumn they might not enjoy a quality life, by virtue of retiring from their work and becoming exposed to financial constraints, and been inflicted by disease and ailments that catch up with the age. Consequently, they might have to spend their twilight years being dependent on others, making things traumatic for them.
Similarly, society also remains unaffected by such an evolution, and will have to bear the burden of supporting the elderly populace both financially and morally, in the form of providing old age grants, retirement homes, and medical rehabilitation support. This will impose humongous pressure on taxpayers, the only source of public money.
Moving to remedies, even though these problems cannot be comprehensively eleminative, mitigation is surely possible. The governments should either raise the retirement age and let the aged workers engage in non physical work, or should draw a plan to engage senior citizens in some kind of community work and compensate them with stipend so that the later do not only stay occupied but also confident.
Overall, even though developments and science have yielded rich dividends in the form of prolonged life span, they have also brought along certain hidden adverse effects which could make life miserable for the elderly and impose over the society. Therefore, governments should intervene and take prudent steps.
