IS AGEING POPULATION A BURDEN TO YOUR COUNTRY?
Added: (Tue Jan 13 2009)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
A collection of people living in a given geographical territory is defined as a population. The economic wellbeing, social development and standard of living of that community of people depend, to a greater or lesser degree, on the dimensions or the constitution of its population. The resources required for satisfying the needs of a small community are low; in the case of a larger population, it is the other way about.
When the majority of the population of a country is either too young or too old, then the number of people available for gainful employment is far below the number required for the community’s economic expansion activity. This leads to the conclusion that, if a country is to progress with sufficient acceleration, the majority of its population should be able to engage in productive employment. The other aspect is that, where the majority of the population is composed of youth and the society in which they live is ridden with unemployment, it leads to social unrest and finally to rebellion.
The world, once, was concerned with the accelerated population escalation. In order to decrease or control the growth rate, birth control measures were and are being adopted specially by overpopulated countries. They are mainly encouraged by the state. And, in some cases, they are pursued by individuals on a voluntary basis as they prefer to have a small family unit.
Today, it is the question of an aging population. Now it has become necessary to reverse this trend as it has brought in its wake several undesirable social and political consequences destabilizing the normal life in the society so affected.
Why is the world population aging so fast? One reason is the birth control or, as it is popularly called, family planning measures adopted by most nations. This has resulted in the population aging more speedily due to the decline of fertility rates. The other reason is the increase in the average lifespan of the population due to the consequences of the advancement of the modern medical science.
An ageing population of a country brings in its wake several adverse impacts on its society. Firstly, it blocks the economic progress in view of the fact it does not have a sufficient labour force required for its development programmes.
When it is the case, a country has to resort to engaging an imported labour force for the execution of its work in relation to the enhancement of its economy. Recruiting aliens for work costs the country more than what it pays for its nationals, and also has to provide other facilities as housing, insurance, medical and free travel, apart from the payment of compensation in case of accidents.
Then there is the other possibility. When jobs are in plenty, young men and women, who have completed their secondary education, will not think of pursuing their higher education, but get themselves employed in the public or private sector. This is an unbearable loss both to the country as well as the youth themselves who could otherwise sharpen their skills by continuing their higher studies for their own betterment and that of their country.
When the ageing population is excessive due to the increasing life expectancy and decreasing fertility rates, governments are called upon to incur additional expenditure for providing their aged proper medical care, payment of old age pensions, homes for the aged etc. The resultant extra expenditure, so needed, will pressurize national governments to ask their citizens to pay new taxes. This, in turn, will make the governments unpopular. Or in the alternative, governments will be tempted to curtail expenditure on welfare programmes such as education, health or spend less on development projects.
Based on the reasons referred to above, the only conclusion that one is compelled to arrive at is that each country will have to decide on the size of the population that is ideally good for the continued sustenance of its economic development endeavor. Further, it has to hit upon an ideal balance between an aging and youth population that must be within its territory, at a given time, in order to enhance its economic development fulfilment. It is only then that the population ramifications harmonize with the social and economic compulsions of the country. If the balancing method is maintained without disruptions, it will not any leave room for social tension and terrorist tendencies.
What is said above should not be construed to mean that aged people are a lot that is nothing but a burden on the society in which they live. On the contrary, their knowledge, experience, maturity and expertise could be harnessed by enlisting them for work which they could perform more efficiently and faster than the inexperienced new recruits who are liable to make mistakes repeatedly.
In this way, a country where there is a labor shortage could utilize the services of its own aged people without resorting to use a migrant work force. Employment of the country’s own matured nationals, while enabling them to lead their lives independently and with self-respect, precludes the bringing in of alien workers into the country thereby blocking the draining out of much valuable foreign exchange needed for its economic advancement activity. Next, the recruitment of experienced hands has another advantage. The employer is not required to incur any expenditure to give them training in the work they are assigned to do.
Physically weak old people could be employed in another sector with much ease. That is for doing outsourcing work from their own homes. Sending emails, internet research, and data entry-on/off line, article submission, copy typing work and conversion of electronic files (Pdf) into Excel/Word Files are some of the work they can do without any physical stress.
When more and more aged people are given work to do, the psychological feeling embedded in them, that they are an unwanted lot and a liability on society, could be erased out of them for good. This will enable them to lead a normal life in happiness during the remaining years, with the firm conviction that they are of use to their country even in their old age, until such time as they will close their eyes on this world.
MyHome-MyOffice.com has already to taken up this challenge and trained few capable pensioners to work from home. Who is willing to partner with MyHome-MyOffice.com and take this project off the ground? We are not looking at grants or donations which we are totally against! We need ethically motivated multinationals around the world who could give us technical assistance, initial setting up and above all your work so that these men & women will be able to make use of their rich knowledge, experience and expertise to regain their lost pride, self esteem and reputation while engaging in a meaningful trade. Are you willing to take up this challenge and make a difference in this part of the world?