The Older Population and the Effects they have on Society - Research Paper Example

There are instances where we find ourselves in the middle of a retirement party for a senior co worker who has reached the retirement age. What we do not realize is that with a rise in the aging population there are now many challenges too. It has been observed that for many years the world population has seen an increase in the aged population. This has brought forward a completely new demographic change. This change in turn has led to many views that are not only alarming but also makes it important that strategies and policies are made to counter the consequences of a growing percentage of ageing population. There will be adverse changes in the business and economic activity in the next few years. The changes will pose numerous challenges that will include the implications for the social security and its growing dependants, the weight on the younger population pay off health insurance and also for the lost income. In the article titled “The impact of our ageing population cannot be ignored” that was published by Liz North in The Guardian, it has been urged that we cannot fail in overcoming these changes as they will have disastrous results since the effects are profound and will be on aspects of public policy (North 2009). The aging population can be attributed to the spirit of the time but the consequences of it are paramount and immense. This leaves a question that needs to be answered that what are the real consequences of the aging population and the solutions that should be implemented to overcome these problems. A graying population has helped in creating a situation of Brain Drain. The reason of this is the fact that soon there will be millions of baby boomers that will relinquish their posts and retire. This will be an enormous pain to the companies as most of the people that reach the retirement age will be part of the senior management and would have worked for the company for many years. Considering this, it is safe to say that when these employees depart they also take the years of experience, their irreplaceable talent and also their skills which in turn create a void in the company. Employers will need to prepare for this situation as it will have dire effects on the company. The employers can initiate internships and also start an understudy process so that they always have a pool of employees to replace those who are leaving. But this will help them in retaining the skills and experience of the outgoing senior employees of their company as the employees who were inducted in the apprenticeship and mentoring will be able to learn all that there is by observing and getting training from the seniors themselves (Laing et al 2009) . Social security is a government program that helps the retired workforce and also the disabled and their survivors. Social security is considered to be one of the most effective programs as it is thought to be the fundamental part in people’s income security. Unfortunately with the amount of old population increasing drastically it will be a huge problem for the social security as the number of beneficiaries will increase. According to one estimate the ratio of dependency is now around 0.3:1 but this is to aggravate by the year 2030 when it reaches a problematic 0.42:1. This will bring out a unique situation where the social security will be helping thrice the amount of beneficiaries. Contrary to the common notion that the social security creates individual retirement accounts from the taxes that are taken from paychecks, the social security actually works by the principle in which people that are working will be paying for the pensions of the current retired people. But this was only feasible as long as there are more workers than there are retirees which will change by the year 2030 (Bloom et al 2011). With the ratio of the graying population increasing it can be said without a doubt that the social security will be strained. As the number of people who are eligible for getting social security benefits increases it will become increasingly difficult for the government to bear the expenses and pay for the benefits and other welfare commitments. It would have to divert funds from other crucial projects such as the construction of highways, defense projects and other programs. Also there has been an overall decrease in the number of births which further aggravates that situation as there will be fewer taxpayers which will further make the government bound to pay off the expenses that result from the medical care and other social services of the gray population (North 2009). With the increase in the aging population and its strain on social security it seems apparent that there may be the same effect on the Medicare. As the burden on social security will increase it is expected that it will succumb and eradicated. But will the Medicare trust fund also fail with the rising aging population. It is a fact that as we age our bodies become more prone to acquire diseases and chronic illnesses. With a huge percentage of the population being gray it can be easily said that there will be an increase in chronic illnesses like heart diseases, diabetes, cancers and also strokes. This will in turn increase the cost of the health care and also long term treatments. This will increase the financial burden on various social services, insurance companies and also on the health care system itself. Also an increase in the costs of medical care can be attributed to the need of the latest techniques and procedures to treat diseases and illnesses. Therefore it can be safely said that similar to the social security there will be higher chances that Medicare and Medicaid will also face a strain and can be eroded. With many companies trying to save cost by reducing the benefits that they are giving to their employees and also the rising cost will make the insurances useless as they will not be sufficient to handle the costs. The aging population will turn to the Medicare and Medicaid which will then have to deal like the social security with a huge amount of gray population (Laing et al 2009). There are not many topics that generate more controversy and debate than health care and social welfare programs. These programs are specifically made to help those in the country who are poor, old and need help. Proponents advocate that these divert funds and help those who are facing problems but only for a short while. Whereas opponent is of the view that social programs are in fact increasing the dependency in the recipient and reduce the chance of them getting work. When it comes to these social programs like the Medicare and Medicaid, it can be said that the Americans are not getting much. In his article in the Los Angeles Times, “How to cure U.S. health care”, Dalibor Rohac writes that the Americans are getting very less of the amount that they are paying. The country is spending 17.6% of the GDP but the life expectancy is less than other countries in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (Rohac 2012). One side of the argument for the healthcare programs and social security is that they should be carried out to only those who make contributions towards it. Most Americans believe that government is responsible for those who need aid and are unable to help themselves. Programs like the social security and the Medicare and Medicaid are in fact made possible by the contributions of the recipients themselves when they were working. These contributions were made from their paychecks. So it is clear that people should be given aid as they are entitled to it since they contributed to them. But opponents of these social programs are of the view that these programs help in fostering a sense of dependency and helplessness in the recipients. This may result in labeling the recipients as lazy and unethical. In this the proponents believe that the social programs actually act social safety net. They are only helping those who face temporary hardships. People can fall into poverty in their course of life and these programs actually help them get back on their feet. With the severe recession and economic issues resulting from the financial collapse of 2007 and 2008, these programs became even more important. One of the strongest cases against these programs is that they cost the government a lot of money and programs like these are expensive and draining the treasury. They advocate that the funds that are appropriated here can be utilized in other social welfare programs that will contribute to the economy and not strain it (Dye 2010). It is clear that a considerable number of the population will age and they will stay. For that matter it is necessary that the government adopt numerous policies and reforms that will help in making the burden on the younger population and also the social welfare programs to lessen. The foremost step is to reform the social security. The fact is social security is very important to the general masses and it is imperative that the government is able to save it so that all citizens can look forward to retirement. This will mean that the government will have to increase the taxes and diverting funds from other social projects. It will be discrimination and arbitrary to slash the benefits of the older generations due to the pressures and issues of the current young population. To do so it is important that the government starts increasing taxes that will be directed towards the social security. The Government should also simultaneously increase the payroll tax cap so that any American who earns more than $102000 is taxed. Another recommendation would be to change the current formulas that are used to calculate the benefits. This will be done to ensure that the benefits are given to those who need them most. As for the health care services the challenge will not lie in securing more funds or making the recipients contribute to it as they have contributed the lion’s share in it with their paychecks. For that reason it is recommended that the focus will be to make more effective and efficient in dealing with gray population and in proper delivery of the benefits. To do so it is imperative for the government to improve the health care as the current recipients are those who were born in the great depression and this means that there is a small window for the government to improve the system before the baby boomers start to overload it in the 2020s and 2030 (Rohac, 2012). In some countries there has been an effort to increase the role and significance of older workers in firms. Also since the proportion of older workers has increased it is time that the companies adopt them into the organization. For that it is important that the attitudes of the managers and the staff change and accept that old co workers are not slow or a burden on the company but in fact has to acknowledge that they have more experience and skill. (Laing et al 2009). In conclusion it can be said that there are many issues with an aging population that poses numerous challenges. These challenges require urgent attention and response. These challenges will give the impression of being insurmountable but they are controllable. The basic realization is that the population will age and since the rate of mortality decrease and life expectancy increases it is only fair to be prepared in the changes in the demographic. For that reason social security which is imperative for the aging citizens to have in their retirement, health programs like Medicare and Medicaid are all necessary to be revised and reformulated to counter their growing need in 2020 and 2030. It is also suggested that aging workforce must be given the freedom to retire whenever they want as this will help in reducing the gap that occurs when they retire. References Bloom, D. E., Canning, D., & Fink, G. (2011).Implications of population aging for economic growth. Program on the Global Demography of Aging at Harvard University. Retrieved from: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/pgda/WorkingPapers/2011/PGDA_WP_64.pdf Dye, T. R. (2010). Politics in America. Boston: Longman. Laing, S., Poitier, R., Ferguson H., Carraher, S.M., & Ford S. (2009). BABY BOOMERS AT 60: EFFECTS ON RETIREMENT PLANS, BENEFITS, AND THE WORKFORCE IN THE BAHAMAS, JAPAN, AND THE USA. Allied Academies International Conference. Academy for Studies in International Business. Retrieved from: http://alliedacademies.org/Public/Proceedings/Proceedings24/ASIB%20Proceedings.pdf#page=15 North, L. (2009, April 24). The impact of our ageing population cannot be ignored. theGuardian. Retrieved from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/apr/24/ageing-population-impact Rohac, D. (2012, July 20). How to cure U.S. healthcare. Los Angeles Time. Retrieved from: http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-rohac-healthcare-costs-20120717,0,3398686.story Read More