The world is getting older. Not specifically the planet itself – though it is – but rather those among the human population that now numbers more than 8.2 billion. Advances in medicine, healthcare, housing, technology, and many other areas mean people are living longer. At the start of the 20th century, the average life expectancy for a newborn was 32 years old. Fast-forward to 2021, and it was 71. As more people grow older, so the proportion of elderly – classed by the World Bank as those aged 65 and over, even if many people that age would not consider themselves to be so defined – has increased. Declining birth rates and longer lives mean there has been a demographic change in almost every developed country in the world towards a more ageing society. It has happened in the UK – where the World Bank calculates 19% of people are now 65 and over – and closer to home for me in East Asia as well. Countries with a proportion of their population aged 65 and above at 14% or more are seen as a having an aged society. Singapore has just reached that level, and is one of the oldest populations in South East Asia. Go above 20% and you have a superaged society. The UK will reach that level soon, while many European neighbours, including Italy and Portugal (25%), Finland and Greece (24%), are already there. Then there is Japan. With 30% of the population classed as elderly in 2024, it has what is called a super, super-aged society. Monaco (36%) is even higher but it is a different case, with a much smaller overall population base (at around 39,000, it is smaller than Lancaster), and its ranking as the world’s wealthiest city on a per capita basis. This growing elderly population brings issues. They are not just social, but also financial and economic – the costs of looking after elderly people are growing by the year. AN INDONESIAN PERSPECTIVE It is no longer only developed countries facing this issue, but developing countries too. In South East Asia, as well as Singapore, Thailand has an aged population (15%), and others are not far behind. In my homeland of Indonesia, the proportion of the population aged 65 and older is about 7%. This is not an aged society, but it does make us an ageing one. Added to this, most workers are in informal sectors, and the majority of them are not covered by social protection or social insurance, especially in the form of a pension. My work with the International Labour Organization looks at what social protection people have by the time they retire. Do they have enough funds to fulfil their basic needs? Workers aged 65 and over are mostly in informal employment. They might still be economically active, but they have no public or private pensions. They are also more likely to be in the lowest decile in terms of both income and expenditure, which makes them triply vulnerable. They are old; they are not covered by any work insurance, including pensions; and they among the poorest members of the population. They must rely on social assistance from the government. But if most of the future elderly fit into the characterisation above, then they will have no pensions to help them when they retire, and the burden on taxpayers will only grow beyond levels that are feasible. 44 |
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