In recent years there have been many developments in medical fields. One of the largest areas of growth is in technology for extending the lives of people. Medicine makes people’s lives longer. Although an ageing population brings some problems to governments, I feel that the positive effects are greater.
It is certainly true to say that increasing number of elderly people causes many negative problems in our society. One example is a pension problem. In Japanese society, working people have to pay a tax to support the lives of elderly people. As a result, if the population of elderly people increases and that of young people decreases, working population can’t support the ageing population.
On the contrary, there is little evidence to suggest that young people get only bad impacts from the increasing of the elderly population. Firstly, the most positive benefit is that young people can learn precious knowledge and experience from the elderly generation. During this summer vacation, I visited my grandmother in Nagasaki. She was a victim of the radiation from an atomic bomb. She taught me her experiences of the war and I recognized the importance of peace. Young people can gain valuable knowledge from the elderly.
Secondly, new businesses are often created, which leads to the economic growth of society. Take a leaf-making business for example. This business involves elderly people making artificial leaves which are often contained in Japanese lunch boxes. It is said that elderly people are better at doing detailed handwork than young people. This business makes the most of being elderly.
Overall, it is evident that the ageing population will increase rapidly by an advance of a medical technology. In my opinion, the positive effects outweigh the negative ones. We should think about how to leverage the advantages of elderly people such as technology and knowledge and mitigate the negative impacts.