Editorial: Introduction to Special Issue on “Comparative Aging”

Abstract

Population aging processes throughout the world will have critically important social and economic consequences, including a potential shortage of working-age individuals, heightened demand for costly health care services, adequate housing accommodations and pensions for older adults, and a growing number of older adults relying on their children and grandchildren for social and economic support. The rapid increase in population ageing across the globe signals one of the most important demographic changes in human history. In the latter half of the last century, the world's developed nations completed a long process of demographic transition. Between 2006 and 2030, the increasing number of older people in less developed countries is projected to escalate by 140% as compared to an increase of 51% in more developed countries. A key feature of population aging is the progressive aging of the older population itself. Policy makers contrast the “old” (65+) with the “oldest old” (85+) and that the oldest old population is growing at an even more rapid pace than the overall old population. Around the world, the 85and-over population is projected to increase 151% between 2005 and 2030, compared to a 104% increase for the population age 65 and over and a 21% increase for the population under age 65. The most striking increase will occur in Japan: by 2030, nearly 24% of all older Japanese are expected to be at least 85 years old (Kim and Lee 2007). As life expectancy increases and people aged 85 and over increase in number, four-generation families may become more common. This special edition attempts to ground a critical understanding of issues of population aging in particular nation states: Australia, Africa, Canada, US and China. Indeed, in every society in the world, there is concern about population ageing and its consequences for nation states, for sovereign governments and for individuals. The global population is ageing.