Category: aging population

Baby Boomers Push Nation’s Median Age to Almost 39 as Fewer Children Are Born

The U.S. population has gotten older in the past two decades, with adults 65 or older growing by more than a third from 2010 to 2020, while the share of children under the age of 5 declined, according to Census Bureau data released May 25. From 2000 to 2020, baby boomers (born 1946–1964) and millennials…


US Median Age Rises to Almost 39 as Families Have Fewer Children

The U.S. population has gotten older in the past two decades, with adults 65 or older growing by more than a third from 2010 to 2020, while the share of children under the age of 5 declined, according to Census Bureau data released May 25. From 2000 to 2020, baby boomers (born 1946–1964) and millennials…


Shanghai’s Commercial Attractiveness Wanes as a Population Crisis Emerges

News Analysis Shanghai, the once prosperous commercial capital of China, is no longer the county’s top industrial city, according to the latest statistics. Meanwhile, the city lost at least a quarter million migrant workers amid the implementation of its draconian COVID-induced policies, local authorities say. As the most populous metropolis in China, Shanghai was an…


China’s ‘Model County’ on One-Child Policy Now Faces Severely Aging Population

Once touted by the Chinese Communist Party as China’s “model county in family planning” in the 1970s and 1980s, Rudong County in eastern China’s Jiangsu Province has now become the Chinese county with the oldest population, with 39 percent of its total population aged 60 or above. Located in China’s eastern coastal region facing the…


Japan Posts Fewest Births in Record History, Amid an Increasingly Aged Society

New Analysis Japan saw the fewest number of births in its recorded history last year, health ministry data showed. The number of newborns in the country fell to 799,728 in 2022, down 5.1 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare on Feb. 28, marking a…


Over 45 Million Elderly Chinese Need Care Amid Deep Aging Trend

The number of elderly people who need care in China has exceeded 45 million and is expected to reach 60 million by 2030, according to a recent survey. Characterized by large scale, deep degree, and rapid acceleration, China’s aging trend is different than that of other countries. Authored by a team of social scientists from…


Scientists Find Age-Related Vision Impairment Not Indicative of Cognitive Impairment

A study conducted by the University of South Australia has gone against the common literature relating poor eyesight to brain decline, finding that cognitive tests can misdiagnose older people with age-related vision decline with cognitive decline by up to 25 percent. “A mistaken score in cognitive tests could have devastating ramifications, leading to unnecessary changes…


Worse Than Japan: China Unable to Deal With Aging Crisis

News Analysis In order to save itself from the aging crisis, China needs to increase the number of young workers or increase the education and productivity of its current workers. Either policy would be very costly and could take decades to pay off. In 2016, faced with an aging population and a dwindling workforce, the…


China’s Aging Crisis Is the Final Blow to Its Economy

News Analysis China’s aging crisis may be the final blow to an embattled economy—already plagued by a debt crisis, real estate bubble, and sluggish growth. China’s GDP growth is expected to drop to about 5 percent this year, as opposed to the 10 percent of previous decades. Some experts believe that next year, growth may…


South Korea’s Debt Growth Projects Fastest Among Developed Countries, Citing Super Aging Population

South Korea’s debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to grow at the fastest pace among the world’s 35 most advanced economies over the next five years, and its potential GDP growth rate from 2030 to 2060 is also projected to be the lowest among the 38 OECD member countries. According to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest…