March 2026
05Mar

China outlines strategy to address population aging

China will advance a proactive national strategy in response to population aging, according to the government work report submitted on Thursday to the country's top legislature for deliberation. The report prioritizes elderly care services in rural areas. Minimum basic old-age benefits for rural and non-working urban residents will be raised, and the country's unified national management system for basic old-age insurance funds will be scaled up. The government will work to increase the supply of public-interest elderly care services, according to...

March 5, 2026
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05Mar

Yale study challenges notion that aging means decline, finds many older adults improve over time

Aging in later life is often portrayed as a steady slide toward physical and cognitive decline. But a new study by scientists at Yale University suggests an alternate narrative — that older individuals can and do improve over time and their mindset toward aging plays a major part in their success. Analyzing more than a decade of data from a large, nationally representative study of older Americans, lead author Becca R. Levy, a professor of social and behavioral sciences at...

March 5, 2026
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04Mar

How South Korea nudged its birth rate back up – and what Singapore can learn

As Singapore's birth rate hits a historic low, South Korea's modest but notable rebound offers a ray of hope and possible lessons, experts said. Singapore's total fertility rate (TFR) fell to 0.87 in 2025, parliament was told on Thursday (Feb 26), continuing a slide that first pushed the country below 1.0 in 2023. A TFR below one means the average woman has less than one child in her lifetime – far below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to keep the population from...

March 4, 2026
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03Mar

Reform unlocks China’s sil­ver dividend

In a tech­no­logy park in Shang­hai’s Xuhui dis­trict, 58-year-old Zhang Wei is fine-tun­ing a drone used for agri­cul­tural inspec­tion. With 35 years of exper­i­ence as an air­craft mech­anic, he remains one of the most reli­able tech­ni­cians in the fact­ory. Under China’s pre­vi­ous retire­ment frame­work, however, Zhang would soon be expec­ted to step aside, begin draw­ing a pen­sion and leave the work­force. But Zhang is not ready to hang up his boots. “This is when exper­i­ence mat­ters most,” he says. “If...

March 3, 2026
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02Mar

Japan’s births hit record low for 10th year as demographic crisis outpaces government forecasts

Japan’s demographic crisis accelerated to a historic velocity last year as the number of births fell for the 10th consecutive year, reaching a record low that threatens the structural integrity of the nation’s social security framework. Data released Thursday by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare revealed that births in 2025 declined 2.1% from the previous year to 705,809. This figure, which includes foreign nationals residing in Japan, represents the lowest level since record-keeping began in 1899 and marks...

March 2, 2026
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February 2026
27Feb

Population Aging and Pension Reforms in China

By Boele Bonthuis, Yongquan Cao & Christoph Freudenberg China is experiencing rapid population aging and a declining workforce, posing significant economic and fiscal challenges, especially to the pension system. This paper examines the evolution of China’s pension system, assesses its gaps relative to international peers, and evaluates the macro-fiscal implications of population aging and various pension reforms. Using a calibrated overlapping generations model that explicitly incorporates the rural–urban disparities, we project that population aging alone can slow annual GDP growth by...

February 27, 2026
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26Feb

Forever Chemicals Linked to Faster Aging in Middle-Aged Men, Study Finds

A new study shows that exposure to two specific 'forever chemicals' may accelerate biological aging, especially in middle-aged men. These chemicals – PFNA (perfluorononanoic acid) and PFOSA (perfluorooctanesulfonamide) – are just two of the thousands of 'forever chemicals', or to use the more technical term, PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). Used widely since the 1940s and 1950s, PFAS are found in raincoats, upholstery, non-stick pans, food packaging, firefighting foams, and much more. This vast range of synthetic substances was specifically designed to be durable. They...

February 26, 2026
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25Feb

Revolutionary ‘Department of Future Aging’ transformed a German town for its elders

The world is getting older, and it’s getting older quickly. In 2019, there were approximately 700 million people aged 65 and older. The UN predicts that the number will more than double by 2050. In the U.S., the Census Bureau estimates that retirement-age residents will outnumber children for the first time in the nation’s history by the 2030s. Clearly, helping the aging population live their later years with as much comfort and dignity as possible is a growing concern. And one German town is...

February 25, 2026
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19Feb

US. Elderly population growth outpacing caregiver resources

The senior population is growing in the United States. According to a study by CareScout the 65-plus population is on track to hit 82 million in the next 25 years. There are currently around 60 million. Many states across the country aren’t prepared to handle a population aging this fast. Around the Tri-States, Missouri ranked 50th as the least prepared state to handle what’s being called the “Silver Tsunami.” Illinois ranked 4th and Iowa ranked 32nd. “The demand is growing to fast were there aren’t...

February 19, 2026
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18Feb

Why Is Japan’s Population Decreasing?

Japan’s population has been declining steadily since 2005 primarily because of a decrease in births, which have consistently been lower than the number of deaths per year. The birth rate in Japan dropped from about 19 per 1,000 people in 1970 to just 6 in 2023. Until the mid-1970s, the total fertility rate remained above the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman, the threshold needed for population stability, but that rate declined to a record low of 1.15 in 2024. Another factor has been a gradual shift...

February 18, 2026
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