AGEING POPULATION Flashcards
Name a country you have studied that has an ageing population.
It is the UK.
List the main two reaons why the UK has an ageing population.
The two main reaons are a decline in the birth rate and an increase in people’s life expectancy.
What is meantby life expectancy?
It is the average age that a person will live to.
Approximately what is the life expectancy of both men and women in the UK.
In 2012 the life expectancy was 78 for men and 86 for women.
Give four reasons that will explain why women in the UK are starting to have less children.
Women are having less children as they are marrying later, choosing to have their first child later in life, less women are getting married or deciding to spend their income on luxuries rather than the cost of bring up children.
Give five reasons that will explain why life expectancy has increased in the UK.
Life expectancy is increasing because of better access to health care, the develop of new treatments to keep elderly people alive e.g. organ transplants, an increase in peoples income leading to better housing and living conditions and a more balanced healthier diet.
Explain how contraception helps women in the UK have less children.
It enables them to decide when to have there first child or have none at all.
Over the last 25 years the percentage of people aged over 65 has increased from 15% to ?
It has increased to 17%.
Over the last 25 years the percentage of people aged under 16 has fall from 21% to ?
It has dropped to 19%.
What is the birth rate of the UK.
It is 12 per 1000 people per year.
List the six main problems caused by the Uk’s ageing population.
The problems are an increase in the number of degenerative diseases, an increase in the provision of elderly care needs, an increase in the people claiming pensions, fewer workers, an increase in average wages and a shortage of workers.
Explain why a shortage of worker willl cause problems for the UK.
The shortage of worker will lead to an icrease of average wages. Therefore companies will become less competitive and there will be less investment from transnational companies such as banks and the economy may stagnate.
Explain why fewer workers will cause problems for the UK.
As the UK’s population continues to age, there will a smaller and smaller working population and a larger dependant population. Therefore, the government will receive less income tax to spend on providing services such as hospitals, schools and pensions. This could lead to working people paying increased tax levels,
Explain why the number of people receiving pensions will cause problems for the UK.
As life expectancy increase there will be more people claiming state pensions for longer. This again this increases the amount of tax revenue that the government has to spend on providing these pensions. At present the state pension age is 60 for women and 65 for men
Explain the problems caused by a larger numbers of elderly people needing to be looked after.
There will be a greater number of elderly people needing increased levels of care over time. They will eventually have to be moved into sheltered accommodation or nursing homes. This again this increases the amount of tax revenue that the government has to spend on providing these homes.
