With the world ageing faster than ever, the demand for specialized products and services for the elderly is set to grow. The number of persons aged 60 years and above is expected to nearly triple from 673 million in 2005 to 2 billion by 2050
Japan today is an ageing nation. Nearly one in five Japanese is 65 years or older. The situation is projected to worsen in the next 30 years when one in three Japanese would be over 65 years of age. While Japanese women are producing fewer children, its elderly population is living longer. This is fast changing the social and economic dynamics of the country that not long ago was the nerve center of technological advancement.Not only the government, but the Japanese business community is also coming to terms with the reality that their products and services have to be remodeled to suit the needs of their graying population. Toymakers and gadget companies, for instance, are now focusing on the elderly, who could become their largest consumers in the not-so-distant future. An organizer of the Tokyo Toy Show was recently quoted as saying that Japanese toy companies were increasingly focusing more on toys for adults due to health worries and also lonelier people, as there are more single households in Japan.
With its potential customers in mind, Sega, a Japanese toymaker, has launched a ‘listening’ plant to help elderly people deal with their loneliness. ‘Pekoppa’, as it is called, has an in-built chip that reacts to the rhythms of speech. The plant bends (nods) when a human voice reaches it. Call it the concern for the elderly or plain economics; many a businesses in Japan and other developed countries are designing such products for the old, frail and lonely.
One such organization is the US-based Center for Aging Services Technologies (CAST), which is an international coalition of over 400 technology companies, ageing services organizations, universities and government representatives. The CAST is focused on expediting the development, evaluation and adoption of emerging technologies that can improve the ageing experience. The coalition is stressing heavily on “the need to apply American innovation to wellness technologies that enable prevention, early detection, increased compliance and new modes of remote care giving and family support.”
Not all CAST appeals are falling on deaf ears. Some firms, such as the US-based Health Hero Network, a unit of Bosch group, have taken the lead. It is an innovator of solutions for remote health monitoring and management. Its popular solution is the Health Buddy system. It acts as the interface between patients at home and care-providers, facilitating patient education and monitoring of chronic conditions. The system includes monitoring technologies, clinical information databases, Internet-enabled decision support tools, health management programs and content development tools.
The Graying World
Not just the Japanese, the rest of the world is also ageing faster like never before. Technological advancements in the field of medical science have blessed people with longevity, more so in the developed world than in the poor nations of Africa and Asia. The increase in life expectancy at birth, coupled with declining fertility leads to the increase in the number of older people across the world even as the number of younger people walking the globe falls.
This is already a reality in many developed countries. According to the United Nations’ World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision, in the more developed regions, 20% of the population is already aged 60 years or over and that proportion is projected to reach 33% in 2050. In developed countries as a whole, the number of older persons (persons aged 60 or over) has already surpassed the number of children (persons under 15 years of age), it adds.
However, developing countries, at this point, can breathe a sigh of relief but the happiness may not last longer because many of them may soon begin to witness “a period of rapid population ageing.” In developing countries as a whole, just 8% of the population is today aged 60 years or over but by 2050, 20% of their population is expected to be in that age range, the report states. Globally, the number of persons aged 60 years and above is expected to nearly triple, increasing from 673 million in 2005 to 2 billion by 2050, according to the UN population estimates.
Economic Impacts of Ageing
Several countries including those in Europe are seriously considering the impacts of their ageing population on the economy. Most countries are likely to witness increased pressure on public spending on pensions and healthcare. A slew of reforms will have to be initiated in developed countries to make up for the decline in young population. In the US, federal spending on the elderly population has already surpassed that on people below 18 years of age.
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The biggest impact of ageing is on a country’s labor force, as the number of working hands deplete. According to the UN’s World Economic and Social Survey 2007, a reduction in the number of workers may have negative implications for output growth and for securing the well-being of the population at large. It adds that lower output growth implies that addressing the needs of a larger dependent older population will become a heavier task.
In a paper on the impact of the ageing population on the global economy, Jeremy J Siegel, Professor of Finance at The Wharton School, says the ratio of workers to retirees will see a steep decline in the US and other developed countries. He adds that without enough workers to produce goods and buy retirees’ assets, retirees will not be able to fund their retirement. Siegel, however, suggests a solution. “The solutions are to either raise the retirement age or encourage globalization and allow the youthful workers of developing countries to buy retirees’ assets. The latter choice will lead to a massive transfer of capital ownership to the developing world and a healthy global economy,” he adds.
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written by Krishna rao, March 14, 2010
But what would be better is "Opportunity For Aging World"
written by philip, June 21, 2009
Do you have any links to articles that cover the ageing problems in china?
written by Outtanames999, January 23, 2009
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