Population aging: An inescapable future

PORTLAND: The aging of human populations is an inescapable demographic future. That evolving and universal future is increasingly challenging governments and the public, who are by and large ill prepared for that certain future.

Whereas the 20th century was one of record-setting rapid population growth with world population nearly quadrupling, the 21st century is one of unprecedented population aging with its economic, social and political consequences reverberating across countries worldwide.