Advantages and Disadvantages of an Aging Population
IELTS Writing Task 2
Response: In many nations, life expectancy is increasing compared to the past. In my view, even though governments have no choice but to face some monetary challenges, the benefits of this trend are more considerable since not only younger generation can be more hopeful when they know that they can live longer lives, but also they can receive advice from the older generation, which can be directed in order to make decisions more wisely.
It is undeniable that when people’s lives become longer, societies encounter financial issues. When people age longer lives, a considerable portion of the population is made up by the elderly. As a result, businesses cannot work efficiently because the ratio of adept workers decrease as the elderly cannot work effectively at the workplace. Consequently, less products are manufactured, and governments cannot earn from the companies considerably. Also, when these people reach their retirement ages, they are required to receive pensions, so governments need to allocate a great deal of the budget of the country to these members of the society. Therefore, it is not worth the money if individuals live longer because not only their performances at the workplace are not efficient, but also governments should devote some money as pension to them.
Despite the mentioned problems, if people live longer lives, they hope that in the future they can lead happier lifestyles. If life duration of people was extremely short, younger generation would not definitely enjoy their lives because they find it useless to continue their lives. As a result, they would become depressed and would face some mental problems, such as anxiety. However, when their life expectancy is longer, they will eagerly engage themselves in their lives. In this case, they even hope that when they become retired, they will be able to enjoy the peace and quiet of their lives in their early ages, which increases their happiness.
Furthermore, the presence of the elderly is crucial to younger generation because younger individuals can be navigated to success when they receive advice from the seniors. Older members of the community are mature adults who have experiences different situations during their lives, so they are valuable sources of advice for the youngsters. For instance, when younger people face some monetary challenges in their lives, their grandparents can make them aware of the fact that they cannot become a millionaire overnight, and should invest their money wisely in appropriate ways. Moreover, as seniors have met numerous people with different characteristics, they can help their children to find the best people for marriage. Thus, if life expectancy grows, the younger generation can receive useful information of the elderly, which navigates them towards success.
In conclusion, in many places, people’s life duration has become longer. While this can make some problems for societies, I believe that merits of this pattern, such as creation of hope in younger people and receiving advice from the elderly, are more significant.