Ageing Population In Singapore Human Life †Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Ageing Population In Singapore Human Life? Answer: Introduction Time is an imminent force that binds human life and activities, and its most prominent manifestation is felt in the form of ageing. A nations populace is said to be ageing when the average age escalates, unaffected by demographic factors like death-rate, birth rate, annual migrations and so on. This is a problem many South Asian countries, where governments are faced with the uphill task of providing facilities like healthcare, accommodation and basic amenities to older people who cannot actively contribute to the economy. This adversity is particularly pertinent in Singapore, which happens to be one of the most rapidly augmenting economies in the world. Discussion Situation overview Notwithstanding the nations economic strong-footing, Singapore has a shocking meagre rate of birth and a steep quota of ageing people. When Singapore became independent from Malaysian rule in 1965, its populace was about 1.8 million, who were mostly labourers and farmers devoid of formal education. The mean age of the citizen has hiked drastically to 36.9 in 2015, with people above 65 constituting 11.8% of the populace, which was about 11.2% in 2014. Demographic studies reflect that old age benefits policy has been altered in the past few decades, with the number of citizens in the 16-64 age-group has been dwindling progressively since 1970 (Swee-Hock, 2012). Governments Take Singapores Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong expressed his apprehensions that if this trend continues, the populace pyramid will turn upside down by 2050, even taking immigration into account. From 220,000 in 2000, the population of the 65-plus age-group doubled to 440,000 in 2005, and is estimated to rise to 900,000 in 2030 (Kelly, 2017). This has resulted in sandwiched households, in which about two adults are sustaining both the younger and older generations. This is bound to adversely affect Singapores healthcare facilities and the opportunities for the coming generations (mom.gov.sg, 2017). Rapid ageing will take a toll on the nations economic progress; as most companies are bound to suffer from productivity issues. Low Birth-rates The cause of this situation can be traced back to three main factors. Firstly, the mindset of people has undergone a significant change since the boosted births of the late 1940s. These days, Singaporeans are more focused on building prosperous careers, with better education and increased exposure to global media. People are growing less eager to have babies, as it would affect their careers, especially the mothers. Under such circumstances, the birth rate at present is decreasing, causing the ratio of old age to increase as the population of young citizens is lowering rapidly. Increased Fertility in the 1940s The second reason is the post-war baby boom of the late 1940s. After the war, people felt safer and more eager to have babies at the prospect of a bright future in a peaceful nation. Most of these children are over 65 now (Heok, 2014). The war had caused a lack of good and accommodation already, and the situation worsened. The government imposed the two-child norm and promoted abortion and contraceptives in order to curb the increasing needs at a time of severe deficit. These measures proved to be greatly successful and the rate of births took a sharp pitfall. The abruptly pared number of children caused a drop in the ratio of children in the total populace of Singapore, and a subsequent rise in the ratio of older men. This is precisely the key factor that spurred the relative ageing of the population. Enhanced Life-expectancy The advancement of medical sciences is the third factor that has contributed to the ageing population in Singapore. Efficient health care has resulted in bringing down the mortality rates in all countries across the world. Hence, this is not an influence on Singapore alone, and can also be seen with the ageing of the population in Japan, China, Norway and other countries. According to Statistics Singapore, the rough rate of deaths (per 1000 people) was 5.2 in 1970. That figure was cut short to 4.5 and 4.4 in 2000 and 2008 respectively (Rutherford Socio, 2012). The mortality rate has been in steady downfall since 1970, and so has the ratio of elderly people increasing. This clearly bears testimony to the advancement of medical facilities of Singapore, which is ranked sixth in the world by WHO (Huang, Yeoh Toyota, 2012). Favourable government policies have greatly helped the elderly in bringing down the medical expenses for the older people, who cannot earn as much. The government la unched the Eldershield policy, a scheme akin to the 3M framework of Medishield, Medisave and Medifund. Under such schemes, elderly people are enabled to meet their expenses while also invest their funds for future benefits (straitstimes.com, 2017). Other Nations Such a situation of ageing of the population is present in other countries as well, the notable ones being Japan, Italy, Greece and Germany. Japan is estimated to have the oldest population, as it has the highest ratio of elderly residents- with 25.9% of the population aged 65 and above. Japan experienced a baby boom after World War II, between 1947 and 1949. However, the nation was faced with productivity problems, and like the Singapore government, the Japanese Government legalised abortions and encouraged the usage of contraceptives (Muramatsu Akiyama, 2017). This led to a low fertility and the subsequent ageing of the population, which has potent effects even today. In Germanys case, the problem can be attributed more to political outlooks and gender biases. After World War II, having to choose between kids and careers, most German women focused on jobs, resulting in a decline in birth-rates. Since the reunification of Germany in 1903, the government is trying to boost the rate of births, with considerable effect. Conclusion To round the discourse up, the government of Singapore have realised that they are faced with a serious demographic adversity, and are making efforts to address the problem. The issue poses a threat not only for the society and healthcare facilities, but most importantly, on the economy of Singapore. To that effect the government has taken up measures like re-employment after retirement of elderly people, exclusive housing and transport facilities, reduction in taxes, free medical facilities and so on. A time will come when this adversity will reach its peak; however, the Singaporean government and people look to be preparing for the situation in advance. References: Heok, K. E. (2014). Ageing Baby Boomers. Write Editions/Tusitala (RLS) Pte Ltd. Huang, S., Yeoh, B.S. Toyota, M. (2012). Caring for the elderly: the embodied labour of migrant care workers in Singapore. Global Networks, 12(2), pp.195-215. Kelly, N. (2017). Singapore feeling impact of rapidly ageing population.Today Online. Retrieved from https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-feeling-impact-rapidly-ageing-population mom.gov.sg. (2017).Retirement.Ministry of Manpower Singapore. Retrieved 26 August 2017, from https://www.mom.gov.sg/employment-practices/retirement Muramatsu, N., Akiyama, H. (2017). Japan: Super-Aging Society Preparing for the Future. The Gerontologist, 51(4), 425-432. Retrieved from https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/51/4/425/599276/Japan-Super-Ageing-Society-Preparing-for-the-Future Rutherford, T., Socio, A. (2012). Population ageing: statistics. House of Commons library (Standard not. Retrieved Jan 2, 2013, from: www. parliament. uk/topics/PopulationArchive. straitstimes.com. (2017). Healthcare needs to transform to cope with ageing population: Health Minister. Straits Times. Retrieved from https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/eldershield-being-reviewed-panel-to-submit-proposals-by-end-2017 Swee-Hock, S. (2012). The population of Singapore. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.