In recent years there has been a dramatic shift in the demoraphic structure of Britain's population,the number of young people is dwindling while the older sector of the population rapidly expands. The main reason for the recent trends is that we are living longer and having fewer children below the replacement rate of 2.1 per woman as well the size of the baby boomer generation, who are just starting to retire is accelerating the trend.
By 2014, it has been predicted that, the number of over 65 year olds will overtake the number under 16 year olds, and by 2025, the number of over-60s will have passed the under-25s for the first time in the history of British demographics, predictions goes as far as to say that by 2050 many people will be living past 130 years.
There is evidence to suggest that not only are we living longer, we are staying healthier until an older age, something health experts refer to as 'compression of morbidity', meaning that most of us will only suffer severe age-related illnesses in the last year or so of life. Although old age is often celebrated the older population are often seen as a burden on society, they put huge financial pressure on the NHS and require large somes of money to be used on constructing nursing homes and hospitals.
Demographic economists often worry about the dependency ratio, the ratio of people below working age and people over 65 compared with the sector of the population that is of working age. As the ratio rises, so it becomes harder to maintain living standards for the dependent population because the relatively shrinking workforce is put under strain. As a result there are talks of raising the retirement age, making the dependancy ratio are more manageable figure.
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