Challenges Of An Aging Population Essay

Aging is the process of getting older and this occurs in all living organisms, it is normal but not when the number of older people makes up most of the population. The median age in several countries is starting to increase which is due to the fact that people around the world are living longer lives, fertility rates are declining, and it is also because of the aging of large amounts of children that were born after the second world war and they are referred to as the “baby boom” generation and it is a triumph of development; however, it comes with its challenges. In Addition, the problem of an aging population is more pervasive in developed countries; However, the issue of an aging population is not common in developing countries. The focus of this research paper will be the aging population in Canada and Japan.

The country of Canada maybe a country that suffers from an aging population however it is the youngest among developed countries. According to United Nations (2017) Canada has a percentage of 23 making up its population; also, it is expected to increase to 26.3 percent in the year 2050. (McDaniel, 2009) Graph 1, shows the population projections in the year 2050 which shows that the Canada will mostly be made up of

The first challenge that comes with population aging is its negative effect on the workforce. Since most of the population is made up of the elderly there is less participation in the workforce as well as a rise in elderly dependency which will only be counteracted if older people participate in the workforce instead of retiring. Besides having an effect on the size and quality of the labor market population aging is also a sign of the rise of non-cummunicable diseases which are responsible for 60 percent of all deaths. (Bloom, Boerch-Supan, McGee, & Seike, 2011) . The spread of non-communicable diseases puts a strain on healthcare systems as well as being very