According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people older than 65 will double to 14
percent from 7 percent of the world’s population in the next 30
years, rising to 1.4 billion by 2040 from about 506 million in
the middle of last year.
The most rapid rise in the elderly population is taking
place in developing countries, where the increase in the number
of people 65 and older is more than double the rate in developed
nations. Last year, 313 million, or 62 percent, of the world’s
elderly lived in developing countries, a number that is
projected to rise to more than 1 billion, 76 percent of the
world’s 65-and-over population, the report said.
“Low fertility rates, extended life expectancy and better
health conditions and care” are the driving forces of a global
trend, said a Census Bureau demographer and co-author of
the report.
“The challenges are similar in both developed and
developing countries in the sense that with an aging society,
caretaking will be a serious challenge for the society and the
family,” he said. “Who will
contribute to social insurance? And, in the family there will be
fewer and fewer children available to take care of the older
parents.”For more, read the article.
________________________________________________________________
Robert W. Carter, Jr. is a Virginia attorney whose law
practice is dedicated to protecting the rights of the victims of
nursing home and assisted living neglect and abuse in Richmond,
Roanoke, Norfolk, Lynchburg, Danville, Charlottesville, and across
Virginia.
