The world is getting older.
Globally, longevity is increasing markedly, and birth rates are falling. This demographic reality is often portrayed in calamitous terms. Economists, politicians, policymakers, and pundits alike speak of the aging population overwhelming health systems, damaging the labour market, destroying economies.
In reality, people living longer and healthier is a triumph of science and medicine. Sure, it will lead to a re-ordering of everything from family dynamics, to economic assumptions, to the structure of health systems.
But it can also put strains on social safety nets, which often cannot bear the cost of supporting growing populations of older people with limited incomes.