In the Future, There will be a Higher Proportion of Older People than Younger People IELTS Writing Task 2

The disadvantages of having an older population can be identified with various aspects. First of all, it may be considered that the older population does not have enough abilities to work as the younger people. This would have a negative impact on the social as well as economic development of a state. Furthermore, older people are more prone to different kinds of diseases which can be detrimental for social development. This includes for instance, diseases like heart diseases, Alzheimer's, high blood sugar levels, etc which may affect their ability to work. This in turn would affect the economy in terms of their lack of contribution to the national income. However, despite these aspects, there can be even positive development of having an older population in a country. This can be identified in terms of supporting the younger population with the household chores like taking care of their children. For instance, in countries of Asia and Vietnam, older people staying at home are responsible for taking care of the children at home. They can further be useful in terms of preparing meals and looking after their house while the younger people are away. Moreover, this helps the family in saving expenses for extra or outside help. The parents are furthermore stress-free considering that their children are taken care of by their own family members. This is one of the most common practices in the Asian countries. However, the lack of a younger population sure does affect the economy of many countries but the positive aspects also need to be seen.

One of the biggest challenges can be identified with the fact that an increase in the older population is a huge pressure and burden on the government of a country. This can be identified in terms of the fact that the government has to invest more for their care and benefits. The pensions for the elderly people in the country would increase for the government employees. Moreover, the lack of a younger population in the country would further burden the economic level of the state. This would pressurise the government to induce more investments for the younger population to work. The work burden on the younger generation would eventually increase due to the lack of a young workforce. This would incessantly increase the cost of labour in those countries. For instance, the retired community in Vietnam has been receiving their pension since 2014 by the government. This has increased the financial pressure and forced the government to make reductions in their national budget. Furthermore, in a social context, the burden of the younger generation has increased towards their older people in the family. The increase in the population of older people implies that the cost of their healthcare also increases. The younger population would have to endure through their family income bearing their cost of healthcare facilities along with the entire household. In many cases, where there is only one person who is the earning member in the family, financial strain on the individual would increase. For instance, Japanese housewives are found to be the housewives and childbearers looking after the family and the grandparents. There is only one bread earner implying the financial stress on one person and the lack of opportunity for women to work. Thus, an increase in the ageing population is certainly a negative development for both the society and the economy of a country.

This implies they are not liable to pay taxes which would ultimately require to be paid in the form of pension to them. The governments of many countries thereby would be dealing with immense pressure in managing their national budget. The healthcare system would also be affected considering that the older population are more prone to diseases and are vulnerable. Issues like covid19 pandemics would make the older people more prone to death and health issues. It would significantly also increase the burden on the families of the older people who would have to invest loads on their healthcare facilities. However, there are positive aspects to the presence of the older people in the society. It may be considered that the young children would find enough time to be with their grandparents and learn values. Moreover, they would learn code of conduct and discipline from them while taking care of the children would not be a grave issue for the working parents. However, it may be considered that despite these positive aspects in society, the economic negative development is far more serious.