Over the past century, life expectancy has increased by approximately 8 years. Although this is a remarkable achievement, it is also a mixed blessing, and there is a distinct downside to this success, mainly the dramatic inversion of the population pyramid that is projected to take place in the not too distant future. The consequences of this evolution, together with the drop in the birth rate in Western societies, have major effects in terms of demographic changes. The aging of the post-baby boom population means that there will not be enough young people to ensure the sustainability of the funding of healthcare and pension benefits for the elderly. This will have important socioeconomic consequences, which we are already starting to have to come to grips with in the Western world.
A modern fairy tale
FERRARI, Roberto;GUARDIGLI, Gabriele;TAVAZZI, Luigi
2009
Abstract
Over the past century, life expectancy has increased by approximately 8 years. Although this is a remarkable achievement, it is also a mixed blessing, and there is a distinct downside to this success, mainly the dramatic inversion of the population pyramid that is projected to take place in the not too distant future. The consequences of this evolution, together with the drop in the birth rate in Western societies, have major effects in terms of demographic changes. The aging of the post-baby boom population means that there will not be enough young people to ensure the sustainability of the funding of healthcare and pension benefits for the elderly. This will have important socioeconomic consequences, which we are already starting to have to come to grips with in the Western world.I documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
