Concerns over ageing population

An army of aged is forecast to become the single biggest issue to grip New Zealand in the coming years and local businesses are warned to take heed.
Local authorities are advising the ballooning ageing population will force extraordinary pressure on economy, infrastructure and health providers over the next 20 to 30 years.
Figures released from Statistics New Zealand last week showed the number of people over 85 had tripled in the past 30 years.
In the Bay of Plenty the number of people aged 65 and over increased by 4400 from 39,200 in 2006 to 43,600 in June last year.
Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Max Mason said the ageing population would signal big change in almost every area on the economy.
"It's going to have a double whammy effect. That number of people needing to be supported through health and social services... it's going to be much harder. But the number of money coming through tax payers (providing the money needed) is going to be a lot lower."
One out of every 60 Kiwis was now over the age of 85.
In 1981 the ratio was one 85+ to every 150 people.
Mr Mason said another issue was that political voting would be adversely effected because "you won't get a whole representation across the ages".
That was already starting to happen as the Baby Boomer bubble aged, Mr Mason said.
"The thing that worries me the most is there does not seem to be a lot of solutions out there."
Tauranga group PATAG (Population Ageing Technical Advisory Group) advise the Bay of Plenty District Health Board and growth management group Smartgrowth.
"Worldwide this is one of the greatest problems," PATAG's Anne Pankhurst said.
"At the moment you have six people paying money (tax) that goes towards caring for an elderly person. In the next 20 to 30 years that will be inverted and it will be one person for five to six elderly people.
"Unless we have a strong and wealthy economy, there simply won't be enough tax. It's an extreme worry."
Tauranga could expect to really feel the bite as more people aged. The city has a larger percentage of older people per capita compared to other centres, Ms Pankhurst said.
Businesses needed start thinking of how they were going to deal with the issue, Ms Pankhurst said.
"There's a real view that businesses will need to change. You have to have options around to attract 65-pluses to keep working. There will be work service shortages. They may need to actively train mature workers, provide more flexible work hours.
"What happens if there are three to four people who all reach 65 (retirement age) at the same time? If they do not think about that now, the gap will still be there."
In Europe the issue has taken over climate control as the biggest worry for economists and governments, Ms Pankhurst said.
She referred to the New Zealand Treasury when she quoted from it that the aging population had "the potential to be the single biggest economy and political issue over the next 50 years".
President of Tauranga Age Concern, a volunteer charity that serves the needs of older people, said older people played a vital role in society and an ageing population was "not necessarily a bad thing".
"An increasing number of older people in the Western Bay is not going to be a burden at all because these people are still buying and spending in the area and many of them have saved and many of them still want to work.
"The number of interests older people have these days has grown and especially with the Baby Boomers, they're an intelligent generation who will demand an active retirement and a lot of businesses will benefit from it."
She also said many older people held voluntary positions across the Western Bay and without them, organisations would suffer.
"Rather than looking a at the negative, look at the positive, older people are a huge contribution to the area."
NZ First leader Winston Peters said there needed to be a healthy ageing population policy from Government "and there isn't".
However, Mr Peters suggested the release of the figures was a diversion tactic to draw people away from the real issue of the economy's poor shape.
"That's what people should be focusing on," he said.
New Zealand First lists security in retirement as their number one priority to voters.
Ageing population

- It is expected there will be increased demand for medical and health services.
- There will be greater demand for one to two-bedroom homes.
- Politics and the market is expected to be driven by senior citizens, not the entire community.
- By 2030 it is estimated there will be one billion people aged 65+, which is one eighth of the world's inhabitants.
- Life expectancy is increasing by two years each decade.
- sourced by PATAG