There is a brilliant photo essay on Foreign Policy (FP) called the Grayest Generation that Dr. Allen linked to. It is 31 snapshots followed by a three sentence caption that describes the demographics in the respective countries pertaining usually to populations over 65 and their plight.
Nearly every country featured has similar trends. There is a growing gap between high elderly populations and people under 15yrs old. Nations are needing to come up with solutions for aging populations such as health care but many are increasing the age of retirement to around 65.
Sweden and Malaysia seem to be exceptions. The former has what the authors call a model system of caring for the aging and the latter has a more even distribution of age throughout their population.
The most interesting insight was on Russia, where the average lifespan is 60yrs old. There are more than 34,000 villages, mostly populated by 10 women each, where the they are averaging a lifespan of 73 years.
When the population does not replace itself, where is the care for the aging generation? The familial connections are hard to replace, and they seem to have a positive effect on health of the elderly. A big question arises about the shrinking tax base after people do retire. The local economies and national budgets are needing to accommodate more spending and less income.
