Aging and Demographic Change

Population aging is often perceived in a negative way, through concerns about public pensions, the demand for health care, the needs of older people for personal assistance, declining economic production, the accumulation of social responsibilities in the "sandwich" generation, and divisions between young and old. The purpose of this article is neither to confirm, nor to deny, these concerns. Rather, its purpose is to contextualize them in order to arrive at a more balanced view. Three main conclusions are drawn: (i) multidimensional demographic analysis is required; (ii) the policy significance of older people in the future may not be the same as their policy significance today; and (iii) other factors need to be considered alongside demographic factors in making policy choices.