We have to realize how old, how very old, we are. Nations are classified as "aged" when they have 7 percent or more of their people aged 65 or above, and by about 1970 every one of the advanced countries had become like this. Of the really ancient societies, with over 13 percent above 65, all are in Northwestern Europe. We know that we are getting even older, and that the nearer a society approximates to zero population growth, the older its population is likely to be—at least, for any future that concerns us now.
To these now familiar facts a number of further facts may be added, some of them only recently recognized. There is the apparent paradox that the effective cause of the high proportion of the old is births rather than deaths. There is the economic principle that the dependency ratio—the degree to which those who cannot earn depend for a living on those who can—is more advantageous in older societies like ours than in the younger socie
A. experienced in poor conditions.
B. more likely to live longer.
C. discuss aging as a challenge both science and policy confronts.
D. these things have far-reaching implications.
E. the degree to which those non-earners rely on those earners.
F. the older its population tends to be.
G. the early drop in birth rate.
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