The Aging Population

The citizens in developed countries are enjoying a longer life expectancy. Because of the advanced healthcare system, the population lives longer than people in other regions. However, the aging population will also negatively affect both society and individuals: it will encounter challenges, and the younger generation will struggle to cope with the impacts.

The blessing exacts a toll on the national healthcare budget. The government will have to spend more to take care of the well-being of the aging generations. For instance, the fund for medical services shall double, and the budget for establishing healthcare centers may triple. In addition, the domestic labor force will shrink. The increase in the age of the population means a decrease in regulative working ages. When one generation of the labor force retires, the best scenario is that a successive younger generation will fill in the gap that the former leaves behind. On the other hand, the worst case is that the number of the successors is imbalanced to that of the retired, or the successive generations have not reached the legal working age quickly enough. As a result, the aging population will constrain domestic economic growth.

Individually, the aging population will financially put pressure on them. To deal with the increasing budget for healthcare, the government will have to impose more taxes on its current labor force. For instance, income taxes shall grow, and value-added taxes will be higher. Thus, younger workers will earn less when they have to work more than before.

There are several solutions to the problem. First, the government should extend the current regulative retirement age so that workers of old age, if possible, can continue engaging in the labor market for a few more years. The policy will contemporarily alleviate the burden weighing on younger laborers’ shoulders. Second, the state has to boost the birth rate. The government should financially and mentally support married couples in having more children. Besides, the authority must commit to whatever promises it makes to families. This policy may be the optimizing solution to the aging population. Next, outsourcing may partially help ease the strain of the senescent labor force. The government supports corporations and firms in moving a part of their operations into other countries whose labor wagers are lower. As a result, the domestic workload will decrease, and the labor hours will reduce. Fourth, the policymakers should furtherly lobby for hiring more migrant workers. The strategy is similar to outsourcing, but instead of moving labor demand out overseas, it moves labor in. Last, the governing bodies and organizations should speed up the application of automation in production and servicing. The more ubiquitous and deeper the automation is, the more pressure on the aging population it will alleviate.

In conclusion, the aging population will consume an insurmountable national budget and restrain economic growth down. Individually, each younger worker shall have to pay more taxes to share the burden with the government. To deal with it, the government can extend the legal working age longer, boost the birth rate, outsource, recruit migrant workers, and optimize the capability of automation technology.   

留言

張貼留言

這個網誌中的熱門文章

Why First Offender Recommit Crimes

There has been a growth in the number of offenders that commit more crimes after serving the first punishment. The reason is that the convicts face social biases and judgments after being out of prison. In terms of the problem, the authority needs to support the first offenders in getting back into the community by guaranteeing them a legal source of income. Also, the government should educate the communities in correcting their perception of the convicts.  People tend to have negative opinions about the convicts regardless of the offenders’ crimes. They consider offenders are deceptive and dangerous to the community. As a result, many offenders who desperately want to change their lives struggle to rejoin society because society labels them as criminals. The convicts lose personal relationships and previous occupations after serving the first punishment. To get by, unfortunately, many of them commit crimes once again. In short, it is the society that indirectly pushes the offender...
閱讀完整內容

A Gift for Kids

  A gift represents what the givers wish to express to the recipients. I would give a child a book if I were to help them develop. Books are beneficial to children in several ways. First, books help kids develop language abilities. Children who read books regularly more quickly acquire basic grammar than those who do not. Additionally, they are more familiar with written words and can read faster than their peers. Second, reading books nurtures the habit of reading in children. Kids' minds are like the white papers that when we write something on them, it is there permanently. Besides, their minds have not fully developed yet and are easily affected by adults. So, most children may gradually be interested in reading when adults introduce books to them. In the long term, children who have the habit of reading often excel in the classes and succeed in later careers. Next, reading books is one of the healthy ways to keep children from harm. The harm may be both physical and psyc...
閱讀完整內容