For while policymakers and politicians frequently fret about the growing ranks of old people, some creative thinkers are proposing new, more positive ways to look at aging and the elderly. The concern stems from the fact that the average life expectancy in developed nations around the world is about 30 years longer than it was at the turn of the 20th century. As a result, increased pressure has been placed on health care systems as well as social services such as Social Security. But instead of taking for granted that added years will become added retirement, scholars and panelists suggest that those years could be inserted in other stages of life say, added years of education or breaks from work. Perhaps new policies could devise ways to make the culture of work and of retirement more flexible, Carstensen pointed out.
Women have special needs as they grow older, an issue that deserves more attention.
By the age of 85, for every 100 women there are only 39 men. Most older woman are widowed.