Italy is the oldest country
in the world, with 18% of its population having
celebrated their 65th birthday.(The United States
places only 32nd among
nations ranked according to the percentage of
their population that is 65 and
older.)
Italy already has more retirees than active workers.
By 2030, Japan will overtake Italy, the Census
Bureau and the Aging Institute
estimated, and 28.3% of its population will be
older than 65.
[RAA:Italy will slip only to second, with 28.1%,
as shown by graph
accompanying the print article]
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U.S. NOT AS GRAY AS 31 OTHER
COUNTRIES
Los Angeles Times
By Robert A. Rosenblatt
December 15 2001
WASHINGTON -- For all the talk of the graying American population, the
United
States places only 32nd among nations ranked according to the percentage
of
their population that is 65 and older, according to a government report.
By this measure, Italy is the oldest country in the world, with 18%
of its
population having celebrated their 65th birthday. The United States,
at
12.6%, is younger than Japan, virtually all of Europe and even Uruguay.
Elderly populations almost everywhere will grow in coming decades as
the
members of the post-World War II baby boom cross the 65 threshold,
enjoying
the benefits of the latest medical advances. In the United States,
life
expectancy at birth has jumped from 47 years as of 1900 to 77 years
today.
Worldwide, the number of people 65 or older is growing by 800,000 a
month,
the Census Bureau and the National Institute on Aging reported in "An
Aging
World: 2001."
Also propelling the trend toward older populations are low birth rates.
Couples in industrial nations are choosing to have fewer children than
before.
Aging on a mass scale is "a fundamental transformation of human society,"
said Richard Suzman, associate director of the behavioral and social
research
program at the National Institute on Aging.
"Many governments and international agencies, as well as demographic
researchers, have only recently begun to pay attention to this increasingly
important trend," Suzman said.
One consequence will be an increased burden on working-age people to
support
the growing legions of those of retirement age. Italy already has more
retirees than active workers.
Most European nations and Japan have birth rates lower than necessary
to
maintain their populations. In prospect are long-term population declines,
which will aggravate the difficulties of supporting the elderly.
The United States, by contrast, is in a much stronger economic situation.
The
birth rate is still high enough to provide modest population growth,
and the
relatively open immigration policy means a steady arrival of new workers.
But as millions of American baby boomers age, and the birth rate remains
low,
the graying of the nation will accelerate.
By 2030, the government report noted, 20% of Americans will be 65 or
older.
In effect, all of the U.S. will be like the state of Florida today,
where
about 19% of residents are 65 or older.
But the U.S. will still rank only 26th on the tally of aging nations.
Japan
will overtake Italy, the Census Bureau and the Aging Institute estimated,
and
28% of its population will be older than 65.
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