Chinas Aging Population - Research Paper Example

China’s Aging Population Introduction The population of China is changing in to an aging population because of high mortality rate recorded in the country, and the policies that are set for parents to have one child. National programmers have predicted that this emerging trend may lead to a pension payment problem for the Chinese state and may reduce the China’s ability to compete in the world market in few days to come (England 2). The prediction is that the same trend will definitely lead to creation of growing demand for the health care products and nutritional services in China. The advances in health care that has raised the life expectancy to about 78 years have caused the china to change into an aging population. The high nutritional values in conjunction with the one child policy assumed by the modern day families in the country are also catalyst to aging population in China. The shift of China’s population to old age oriented might have a profound effect on her economy for the adults to be. The Chinese government will have to alter its budgetary policy in favor of the current situation and allow for heightened expenses. According to the international standards of population and demographic distribution, if more than ten percent of the county’s population is above sixty years of age, then this population is described as an ageing population. The Chinese government announced in 2000 that those beyond sixty-five years make about seven per cent of the national population. However, the expectation was that this trend would continue and expected that by 2050 more than thirty per cent of the country’s population would be more than sixty years. The basis of china’s aging population are just as those found anywhere in any other country (Robinson 231). The country has low infertility rate, the life expectancy has risen, and there has been cumulative effect in changes of birth and death rates. The country is and will continue to experience a decline in fertility rate due to the one-child policy. The government has been advocating for the adoption of this policy, thus it has been the main contributor to the changing structure of the Chinese population. The future of the Chinese economy is likely to be very prudent if measures to counteract the negative economic effects that may come along with the aging population are not set. The country may have to change the legal retirement age in order to facilitate work for a continuous production round the year. The Chinese economy is likely to have a great effect in the future. Take for instance the education system that receives a lot of emphasis in the Chinese families. The education system currently has great effect from the large swaths of population where even the secondary education has no guarantee and the technical training as well (Uhlenberg 157). However, improving the education system and the skills of the workers may have a positive effect in improving the economy and compensate the impending decline in the share of the working age. Improving the skills of labor that is absorbed in to the production sector improves the productivity of the country. China has been on the long run to lay strategies that would mobilize the portion of the potential workforce, which is dormant or poorly utilized. The reserve labor force of china lays the concerns that china may not have enough workers in the future (England 5). As the population ages, the country will have to devote most of the resources to the care of the elderly people. The government will have to increase the pension rates in order to benefit the elderly. The increasing ration of the old people in the Chinese population has diverse economic implication for its society and thus impromptu policies and measures to counteract the future effect have to be laid. As the proportion of the elderly people, grow higher in relation to the overall population, the proportion of the young workers drops (Robinson 238). For example in china the active labor force aged forty-five counted for about twenty-four per cent. Specialists expect the proportion to be around thirty-seven percent by the year 2040. Advanced population is usually associated with post industrialization. The same is happening in China. In spite of the increasing aging society, china still has low per capita income. The aging population phenomenon has social, economic and health dilemmas that are no longer unique in the industrialized world. China’s economic growth will slow down gradually in the future in comparison with the pace of development in early 1970s (Uhlenberg 163). The major cause of this will definitely be the aging population. This extraordinary pattern in the demographic change of china has drawn interests of many countries. Generally, the elderly population does not produce much as compared to the youthful working-age population, thus the economic growth rate of the country will definitely retard in the future. The expectation is that a relatively smaller group of people who form the economically active adults will support a larger segment of population. The elderly people will have the effect of imposing a substantial burden on the economics of the country because they require special medical attention, which obviously is dear. The issue has drawn the attention of various commentators who have expressed their concern over the matter (England 8). The aging population is likely to bring fiscal complications because, generally, the governments will not have adequate personnel to generate the required revenue that can effectively run the governments projects. This effect has called for the government to look for alternative work incentives that will motivate the workers to work until late hours, change tax systems to prevent double taxation effect, and the adoption of family-friend policies that encourage parents to work harder. The traditional system where the old people get nourishment from the young persons holds in China. However, this will face challenges in future. The sharp decrease in the birth rate of the persons in china since the mid of 1970s has led to many families having just a single child. The expectation is that, by 2030, these parents will have become frail and it is only the children now to support them. Due to this trend, the manufacturing department of China is beginning to move to the inland areas where labor is more plenty. The local governments in the country have to cope up with the fast raising demographic shift composed of very many retired persons. These people will have to get pensions if any from the few working population a situation that will have a prolonged financial effect to the government of china (Robinson 241). The central government of china is trying to introduce a rural pension plan to reach all the persons living in the rural area. This policy should be due by 2020. The effect of the aging population of china will have more effect on the rural areas than it might have in the towns. This is because the young persons are moving to town as the old and the retired move back to the rural residents. The dependency ration therefore, will be high in the rural areas. The central government through the local authorities will have to put up more health facilities in the rural areas that will provide medical services for the aged living in rural areas. The prevailing situation in the Chinese cities is that, most of the young couples have no child (Robinson 243). The immediate interpretation of this is that in future, these couples will have four parents to look after, and most probably, they will have one child. This phenomenon is common known as the 4-2-1 phenomenon. These couples will have to safe hard to prepare for the future, a situation that will not turn china to a consumption-led population. Arguments based on life cycle theory say that when an aging person reaches a certain degree his proclivity to save money goes down. This is because the person at this age turns to inclined consumption with no definite income. Since the families are the basic units of capital accumulation, there will be an inconsistent supply of capital of funds to the industries. China’s aging population will rise amid compared to the poorer society. This will have an impact on the economic conditions that will pose a major challenge to the country’s lofty of building the society into an all round and a well-off society (England 12). The increased country’s spending on the aged will surge its total deposits hence reduce the general social investment. This will ultimately pose a great challenge on the sustainable, coordinated, and a fast development of the national economy. The government efforts to support the aged will also face historical challenges where a huge amount of funds will be required to finance the pension and the retirement benefits of retired employees. The country’s framework will require more of the government’s efforts focused on them. The rural-urban migration trend in the country will continue over the coming centuries (Robinson 257). The young, energetic and educated population is moving to the towns leaving behind the extremely young to look after the aged. China will only be able to bear the rapidly growing aging population if the pace of reconstruction has a boost from the economic legal reforms. This will allow for more flexibility in the restructuring the declining efforts by parents to work harder in the production process. The government should govern some reforms to accompany the economic state in order to foster positive developments that will deal with the challenge of the aging population (Uhlenberg 184). The Chinese systems have to evolve enough to provide a sanctioned criticism that will directly transform the market economy to endure the current situation. Conclusion The current situation in the China is really a big problem especially to the economic future of the country. Having this in mind, the government of china should look for measures that will offset the expected effect of old age. China being the most populous country in the world is likely to suffer more out of the old age. When the aged stop working, they solely rely on the support of the family members and the government for their daily up keeps (England 16). This complete dependency may translate to how long an adult will have to work. Currently, the roles and the responsibilities of the family have completely changed and thus it is hard to tell the future of the aged population. It is thus important for the government to have a clear picture of the labor force participation and also the resource, wealth and pension allocation for the aged population. This knowledge will allow policy makers to ascertain the needs of this vulnerable population and thus design programs that will make appropriate labor force market as well as bettering the lives of these people. Works cited England Robert. Aging China. Hagelstein: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. Print. Robinson Mary. Global Health and Global Aging. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. Print. Uhlenberg Peter. International Handbook of Population Aging. Tokyo: Springer, 2009. Print. Read More