Growing longetivity:
In 1947, life expectancy at birth was 66.1 years for men. This has increased to 76.2 years in 1999.
For women born in 1947 life expectancy has increased from 70.6 years to 81.8 years over the same period.
Declining fertility: In 1976 the total fertility rate has fallen below the replacement rate (2.6 babies per couple) and has fallen even lower since then. In 1999, the replaceement rate was 1.7 births, and this has fallen even lower since then.
'Baby Boomer' Progression: The peak of this large generation (born between 1946 and 1966) will be entering the over 65 age group between 2011 and 2031. This means that in Australia the numbers of people aged over 65 is expected to increase from 2.3 million in 1999 to between 6.2 and 7.9 million in 2051. The over 85 population is expected to grow from 1.2% to 5% by 2051.
On the other hand the proportion of the population considered to be of labour force age (those aged between 16 and 64) is expected to fall from around 67% in 1999 to around 59% by 2051.
The social dimensions of this need are likely to include changes to caring and disability support needs, housing demands and recreation patterns. More money is going to have to be spent by the government in order to cover increased health care and other age related costs.
Also critical will be the increased participation among older Australians as they will have to stay in the workforce longer in order to cover costs during their retirement.
How the community and government responds to the ageing population will be critical for how Australia copes finanicially and socially in the future.