In the past few years, thanks to medical and scientific breakthroughs, life expectancy of people has improved which results in aging population. Some individuals harbor the view that this trend will lead to substantial challenges to their governments. However, others are opposed to this notion, claiming that the old play an indispensable role in society. Personally, I am inclined to the former opinion and justifications are as follows.
On one hand, it is believed that older generation will contribute significant values to society. It is undeniable that the elderly have gained a myriad of experiences and knowledge in many professions. To exemplify, in many universities, an experienced lecturer with 20 years of teaching can always be more highly appreciated than a younger one. Even though older people’s appearances in labor market are not usual due to their ages, they are still outstanding experts providing valuable advices and support to younger generation. Therefore, they can contribute to society’s development by their own ways.
On the other hand, I hold the view that aged population is considered as a pressure of public services and economy. The more adults retire, the higher budget supposed to be spent on education or construction is instead allocated on healthcare system. To illustrate, older people are more vulnerable to chronic diseases like diabetes and stroke; therefore, there is an increasing demand for public expenditures spent on medical treatments. Moreover, a rapidly aging population means there is a lack of young labor workforce in the economy, resulting in a supply shortage of qualified workers. As a result, this trend would cause a stagnation for development of businesses and national economy. For instance, Japan – an aging country has already experiencing this negative implication.
In conclusion, having considered both views, I advocate that having older people have a more negative impact on society than the positive in term of their increasing population. It is necessary that the government take this issue into consideration and have initiatives to reduce its future consequences.