The global population is ageing. This is happening at a time when the rate and scale of human-induced environmental change is exceeding critical ecological limits, raising concerns over the consequences…
Older people embrace social media if it fits their needs.
Menno van der Sman
Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter are an almost ubiquitous part of most young people’s lives after just a few years of existence. But the enthusiasm with which they have been adopted…
Resource tax reform could solve the problem of an ageing population. But is the current government brave enough to do it?
Sourced from www.shutterstock.com
In an unusual move, Mission Australia and the Business Council of Australia recently co-authored a piece calling for a mature and open conversation about tax reform. They join a chorus of voices, from…
As we get older, our experience of driving changes, bringing new anxieties and hurdles. But when older people stop driving, their ability to get around decreases significantly. This can have a knock-on…
Victims of widespread discrimination: Roma people.
Wikimedia Commons
Many papers are full of the latest population figures suggesting that the number of Romanians and Bulgarians arriving in the UK to work has increased by a third over the past year. This is almost universally…
Portrait helps keep the good times alive for dementia patients.
leakytr8
Care homes in Scotland are taking on a new type of technology to help improve the service they give to residents, particularly those suffering from dementia. With the help of digital portraits, staff can…
China is now facing similar health issues to higher income countries including the UK and US, according to new global health figures. Poor diet and cancer are a growing concern in China compared to issues…
We really should have seen the crisis coming. It isn’t as if older people are a forgotten minority. Most of us, whether or not we are old, interact with people who are on a daily basis. And much of our…
Young people have less and less electoral clout as our population ages.
AAP/Marianna Massey
An ageing population is a threat to not just the Australian economy, but also our political system. In The Republic, Plato wrote: “it is for the elder man to rule and for the younger to submit”. This concept…
What are the benefits and risks of an ageing workforce? Image source: www.shutterstock.com.
Welcome to Shades of Grey, a series from The Conversation that examines the challenges posed by Australia’s ageing workforce, Today, Macquarie University’s Ben Spies-Butcher explains how increasing the…
Maintaining workforce participation in older workers has some benefits, but current labour trends are “age unfriendly”.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
Welcome to Shades of Grey, a series from The Conversation that examines the challenges posed by Australia’s ageing workforce, Today, Monash University’s Veronica Sheen looks at the sustainability of older…
Societal ageing is causing Japan’s GDP growth rate to lag.
AAP
Japan might be the third largest economy in the world, but the past 20 years have seen its GDP growth rate fall behind that of its economic rivals, the US and UK. The outlook appears bleak. Recently, Japan…
Cognitive training is one way to keep your brain healthy.
Regenerative Neuroscience Group
Australian medical research is undergoing its most important and comprehensive review in more than ten years. Led by the 2011 Australian of Year, the McKeon Review couldn’t have happened soon enough because…
The population has the best chance of stabilising if we improve the lives of the poor and reign in excessive consumption of the wealthier.
Flickr/DaveWilsonPhotography
Welcome to the State of the Future series. This series addresses 15 global challenges posed by the Millennium Project, an international non-profit think-tank collecting responses for 40 nodes worldwide…
Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Unit Head, Twins Research Australia and MyBRISK Centre of Research Excellence in Breast Cancer Risk; Melbourne School of Population & Global Health, The University of Melbourne