Edited by Sheila Newman: Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Population:
http://www.vicnet.net.au/~aespop. PO Box 1173 Frankston 3199 E-mail: smnaesp@alphalink.com.au
Australia's Ageing "Problem"
Note: there is a very interesting research paper on this subject in the Australian Parliamentary Library, entitled "Research Paper 4 1998-99": "The Boomer Bulge, Aging Policies for the 21st Century," by Greg Mcintosh of the Social Services Policy Group: To go to this paper click here: http://search.aph.gov.au/search/ParlInfo.ASP?action=view&item=0&resultsID=18HJEk If you should have problems following this link, go to the Parliamentary Site and key "Research Paper 4 1998-99" into the search area. The Parliamentary site is at http://search.aph.gov.au/
It is often claimed that Australia needs constant population increase to support our ageing population. While it is true that our average age is gradually increasing, the process is very slow. The proportion of our population that is over 65 is expected to rise by about one quarter of one per cent per annum for a few decades, after which it will stabilise. This is hardly a social revolution, and in any case it can be argued that a nation has a better chance of stability and prosperity when the proportion of children is a little smaller, that of elderly a little larger.
Australia's population remains very young by international standards. We are indeed an "old" country if we compare ourselves with nations such as Ethiopia, Jordan and Pakistan, but we are "young" relative to Austria, Germany or Sweden. Which of these groups of countries offers its citizens the best quality of life? Is it sensible or accurate to fear an ageing population?
No doubt it is human nature to complain about everything, even our achievements. Each nation strives to achieve a prosperous, secure and healthy life for its citizens, often measuring its success by the average life expectancy. When it can boast that its people are living longer than ever before it begins to complain that the population is ageing.
Since, for the very reasons that make this country so livable, our population is slowly ageing, perhaps it is time we gave the possible advantages some consideration instead of calling for measures to prevent that ageing, measures which themselves may have unfortunate consequences. Rapid population increase has profound implications and should not be promoted without serious consideration.
Dependence - A comparison of the needs of the young when compared with the needs of the elderly.
|
Help needed from others |
Percentage requiring help* |
|
Children |
Elderly |
|
Two years in nappies |
100 |
0.01 |
|
Five years constant assistance from a competent adult |
100 |
0.1 |
|
An additional ten years of fairly constant assistance from a competent adult |
100 |
1 |
|
Twenty years of almost total economic and financial dependence on others (family or tax payer) |
60 |
20 |
The above of course measure only certain criteria. There would be many others, for example - how many hours in an average week do grandparents spend caring for grandchildren against how many hours grandchildren spend assisting grandparents. It is important to consider both paid and unpaid assistance - available statistics normally consider only government income/expenditure and make no account of voluntary activities or private expense. Since care of the young is largely unpaid and private the "cost" of this does not appear in national accounts.
Do we really know whether an ageing society is a disaster or a blessing or are we just jumping to conclusions? Should the issue be researched and considered?
*Estimated percentage