The article shows how populations will grow older at an accelerating pace, peaking
in the decade 2020–2030, and then slowing down after 2030–2050. It also introduces
new indicators of aging, looking at the expected time to death rather than the
traditional time since births. This article is exceptionally policy-relevant—the authors
stress, for example, the importance of establishing sustainable policies with respect
to the financing of pensions and health care for the elderly while such policies are
still politically feasible. The changing age composition of the electorate, they say, may
make such reforms politically more difficult in the future.
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