This week, there has been a report in the US stating that in the next 10 years, the number of people over 65 will, for the first time, outnumber those under 5 years old. In addition, it states that the number of people over 65 in the world is increasing at an average of 870,000 each month.
These figures seem phenomenal and certainly the report warns of "significant challenges".
So is it all doom and gloom? Thankfully not, according to John Appleby, Chief Economist on health policy at the King's Fund. He comments that the number of 65 year olds has outweighed the number of under 5's in the UK for some time, and that the figures generally are presented in such a way as to promote alarm.
However, although he points out that "the burden" of the elderly will be spread over decades, he fails to add that the provision for elderly care is already at crisis point - I don't think we can spare another decade before we figure out how the elderly will be cared for.
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