First, a major aged cadge will be an economic drain. These estimates note the absence of workers, the greater cost of those who remain and the need to fund dependency and, independently, medical care. Half the spending on public health goes to those over 60. This creates a likely benchmark that other nations will eventually attain, driven not least by the costly new possibilities which have already discussed. The other aspect of this is, of course, pensions and other ways of funding age.
Nations make provision for age from different sources.
Japan, notoriously, has relied on personal saving and capital growth in the stock market to support the elderly, This regime has failed and there is limited provision in place in the state sector. Elsewhere, the situation is frequently difficult. The figure shows the situation for a range of countries. One would not wish to grow old without personal savings in Austria. The consequences of all of these forces are summarised in Figure 5, which shows net changes in tax based on current commitments to fund dependency, with and without the impact of demographic change.