Monday, July 23, 2007

Baby boomer's dilemma

We are told that many of our Canadian baby boomers are approaching retirement with insufficient funds in their RRSP's. But that's the least of their problems. Its other demographics that concern me.
In the late 1970's the percentage of elderly in our population (those over 65) was only 12%.Indeed the fastest growing segment of our population are those over the age of 85. Today in some areas of Canada the percentage of elderly is approaching 20% and if the present trend continues it could reach over 30% by 2050! Also when the percentage of elderly was only 12% they consumed over 30% of the health care budget.If that ratio remains the same then at 24% the elderly would consume over 60% of the budget. When if we also add the demographics of the ratio for working to retirees which was 4:1 in the 1970's and has fallen to around 1:1 at present who will generate the money to pay for these extra healthcare costs? Healthcare in Canada seems to be approaching a crisis.
Are the baby boomer's partially to blame for this crisis?. They certainly are a unique segment of our population -not only marrying later in life but having fewer children. Legalizing abortion by the Canadian government also played a factor in changing these demographics. Between 1965-2000 anywhere from 35,000 to 125,000 abortions were done annually. Today it is estimated that still about 100,000 are performed annually.
I leave it to the reader to be the juror.

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