The International Day of Older Persons 2023 theme is “Fulfilling the Promises of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for Older Persons: Across Generations”. The United Nations Secretary-General said that it is necessary to ensure the active and full participation and contribution of older people, through social policies based on their needs.
The United Nations estimates that the number of people aged 65 or over is expected to more than double, from 761 million people in 2021 to 1.6 billion people in 2050. This reality shows the necessity of making efforts to ensure the rights and promote the role of the elderly.
Statistics Korea said that the proportion of Korean people aged 75 and over is 7.7% of the population, in 2023, which is projected to rise to 30.7% in 2070. In Japan, the proportion of people over 80 years old has exceeded 10% of the total population for the first time. According to statistics published on September 15, the number of people over 80 years old in Japan expanded by 270,000 people, over the same period in 2022.
The ageing population creates development opportunities for the healthcare service industry and products serving the elderly. The global average life expectancy is increasing, showing advances in the medical field. However, alongside the opportunities, there are a series of challenges from the ageing population, including pressure to ensure social security and a shortage of labour force. United Nations experts say that inequality still exists because elderly people in different regions do not benefit equally from medical care, social benefits, and others.
Survey results by human resources company Recruit Holding Co., Ltd, show that more than 50% of people aged 60 through 74 years old in Japan have remained unemployed, despite wishing to be at work, even though this Asian country is struggling with the problem of a labour shortage. About two-thirds of businesses in Japan polled said, they did not want to recruit elderly workers into official positions, although most of these businesses did not state a specific reason.
Countries around the world are implementing measures to adapt to population ageing. In addition to encouraging childbirth, experts call on countries to implement solutions, so that the elderly are not considered a burden and help them continue to contribute to society through experience and expertise. Singapore is focusing on strengthening the capacity of the public healthcare sector: nursing staff will be significantly increased and hundreds of hospital beds will be added, to alleviate the shortage in public hospitals.
In the Republic of Korea (RoK), several pension reform proposals to raise the pension age have also been proposed. However, the RoK Government is focusing on expanding the number of jobs and continuing to subsidize small and medium-sized enterprises, to encourage them to recruit elderly people. Meanwhile, Japanese technology businesses promote the application of artificial intelligence (AI) to reduce human resources to care for the elderly. Japanese company Trinity has developed AI products that help detect elderly people suffering from dementia, which leads to getting lost.
Faced with the rapid surge in the number of elderly people, policy adjustment to adapt effectively and turn challenges into opportunities is an important task. Instead of just being seen as beneficiaries of social benefits, the elderly need to be seen as important contributors to the socio-economic development process, with the skills, valuable knowledge and experience they have accumulated.
