By Susan Ahlborn – Penn Today –
If you think about major societal challenges, a number are very predictable,” says Hans-Peter Kohler, Frederick J. Warren Professor of Demography and professor of sociology in the School of Arts & Sciences. “One of them is climate change. Another is population aging; this is a major domestic and global challenge.”
A worldwide increase in life expectancy and decrease in fertility rates led the World Health Organization to predict in 2022 that the proportion of the world’s population over 60 years old will nearly double between 2015 and 2050, from 12 to 22 percent. Related difficulties include providing health and long-term care needs, finding treatments for cognitive diseases like Alzheimer’s, and addressing health disparities in aging.