Aging population

Why is the UK's population ageing?

• As with many developed Western countries the UK has a declining birth rate due to families having fewer children. This could be due to several factors, including the emancipation of women and children becoming an economic disadvantage. As levels of educational achievement increase, the standard of living improves and children become an economic burden. This means parents are having less children so they can spend more money on each one and giving them better future chances. The UK is expanding its opportunities for girls so women are participating in more paid work outside the house. Having a career requires a large time commitment so women have less time to care for children and many women don't have children or have them later on in life One in 5 women in the UK today is childless, compared with one in 10 in their mother's generation. The UK birth rate is still above replacement rate within its migrant population. 
• Life expectancy is increasing and it has done for many decades meaning that the UK has a slowly ageing population and potential for decline in the working population. This is due to the development of routine vaccinations making people less vulnerable to disease and advances in medical research and technology meaning we can deal with illness more effectively and we know more about how to prevent it from spreading. 
• As a country, we have a much wider knowledge of how to lead a healthy life in particular die to more information on food labelling and more information in the media about healthy living. 
• The babies born in the baby boom period just after the Second World War are now reaching retirement age, by 2021 19% of the UK population will be pensioners. 

Problems caused by an elderly population 

Health care

• The demand for healthcare increases because more illness occurs in old age, for example elderly people will need hip replacements.
• Elderly people are more prone to accidents, such as falling, which outs pressure on the ambulance service and hospitals
• The Elderly visit their GP more often. 
• They have more hospital appointments and spend more time in hospital than younger or middle aged people. The government has to find more funding to support older people and this comes from the taxation of present workers. 

Social services

• Elderly people need other services such as nursing homes, day care centres and people to help them to care for themselves at home. These special needs put financial pressure on a country particularly in times of austerity when cutbacks are being made. 

The pensions crisis

• Life expectancy is higher and increasing with the average life expectancy in the UK in 2012 being 81.50 years for women and 79.5 for men
• People receive pensions when they retire for the rest of their lives. This can mean some people receiving pensions for 20 years or so even though 2 years was the average period when pensions were introduced. 
• More and more people are receiving a pension, placing a heavier burden on those working and paying taxes. This can be more problematic where the number of elderly people is increasing disproportionately to the number of people working. 

Opportunities/ positive impacts of an ageing population 

• Younger retired people are relatively wealthy and contribute to the economy spending money on travel, recreation and services. For example, they have more time on their hands so are travelling more and regularly use gyms. 
• Many retired people pay taxes on their investments and pensions
• Many elderly people continue to work due to the necessity or to keep active and contribute to the economy and pay taxes. They can often bring a wealth of experience to their roles. 
• Many elderly grandparents provide free child care so that their children can go out to work and contribute to the economy.