The Age of Dependency

The world is approaching another population milestone after the recent crossover from mostly rural to mostly urban population.

This GUARDIAN ARTICLE sums up some of the major issues involved in the new transition from a world of younger people to one of an ageing population, and people aged 65 and over outnumbering infants (children under 5) for the first time in human history.
This will apparently happen sometime in the next decade.

Every month, another 870 000 people turn 65 - amazing statistic !
There are over 100 million people aged over 65 in China...

Life expectancy is increasing as well.

This DOCUMENT shows how the dependency ratio has changed for European countries. It is quite a dramatic change over time.
It's one of many web based resources on this theme, which could be explored at all Key Stages.

A related story was also featured on the BBC News site today: the relaxation of the China One Child Policy in Shanghai, to allow couples (who are themselves only children) to have a second child.
Read the ARTICLE and explore how this is connected to the issue of an ageing population.

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