Australia is home to 558,000 people aged over 85 years, writes Simon Kuestenmacher at The New Daily.
In the last 20 years, this age group has actually doubled in size. No wonder we talk about our ageing population so much. However, this is absolutely nothing compared to what’s about to hit us.
In just 13 years, we’ll have to look after more than one million Australians aged over 85.
Remember, 2035 is as far in the future as 2009 is in the past. This is happening soon. Another 18 years (2063) and we will have reached two million people over 85. By 2080 we will have added yet another million.
About half of the population aged 85-plus requires serious care services. Meaning they need help with core activities and have several health issues that need attention. Sometimes this care is provided for free by a family member but usually professionals need to get involved. Ageing is labour-intensive.
We need to get our act together to prepare for this surge in the elderly population. This growth isn’t even subject to errors in projections. Everyone in the future 85-plus cohort is already living in Australia. This is going to happen, and we need to get ready now.
How many of our future elderly will have saved enough money in their superannuation accounts to pay for their own retirement?
Wealthy retirees have decent super balances, additional money in the bank, they are home owners and, quite frankly, can afford to grow old.
The growing share of elderly who had low-income careers and don’t own a home are a major concern. They will run out of cash eventually. This means we need to subsidise their retirement years through the pension scheme – potentially for decades.
We are not quite sure how big of an issue poverty in old age will be, but we know it’s going to be a huge problem.
We have a duty of care for our elderly, but they will be a huge financial burden. To shoulder that burden, we must grow the economy.
FULL ARTICLE
Australia’s ageing-population crisis is almost upon us (The New Daily)
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