February 2025

Global aging: The (almost) invisible crisis shaping our future

Societies are becoming older, smaller, and lonelier, with shrinking labor forces, stagnant productivity, declining growth, and overstretched health care and social protection systems. The economic and social consequences of global aging are enormous and will affect how the world manages other global challenges. Population aging could reduce GDP growth by 0.5–1.0 percentage points a year, for example—an effect on output that is greater than the impact of climate change. The demographic crisis has a high degree of certainty in the short and medium terms....

Singapore. Rethinking ageing: From caregiving to community and contribution

Caring for an elderly loved one might not be on your radar right now, but it’s a role many of us will take on eventually. “Almost all of us in Singapore will be, or already are, a caregiver,” Mr Dinesh Vasu Dash, CEO of the Agency for Integrated Care (AIC), observed. When his childless, widowed paternal uncle, now in his mid-80s, was hospitalised with a severe bout of influenza A, it was Mr Dinesh’s parents – both in their 70s –...

January 2025

Is Care Affordable for Older People?

By Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development With population ageing, the demand for helping older people with daily activities – so-called long-term care – is set to increase across OECD countries by more than one-third by 2050. Older people with long-term care needs are more likely to be women, 80-years-old and above, live in single households, and have lower incomes than the average. Currently, across OECD countries, publicly funded long-term care systems still leave almost half of older people with...

December 2024

German Pensioners Set For Increased Payments Amid Rising Healthcare Costs

Projected 3.5% increase may bring some relief to seniors, but rising healthcare contributions raise concerns. Millions of seniors across Germany can expect improved financial aid as the government gears up for noteworthy pension increases next year. According to recent projections, pensioners will see their benefits rise by approximately 3.5% starting from July 2025, as reported by various news outlets, including the Deutsche Presse-Agentur. This anticipated increase aligns with the yearly Rentenversicherungsbericht, which highlights the progress of the statutory pension insurance scheme...

US. Gen X investors ‘sandwiched’ between caregiving responsibilities and preparing for retirement

Retirement is right around the corner for some Gen X investors, but are members of the “sandwich generation” – tasked with caring for both children and aging family members – prepared? According to a new survey from Nationwide, one in five are unable to save for retirement, and 23% have reduced or stopped making retirement contributions entirely. What’s more, one in six are withdrawing from retirement accounts or investments to manage the financial pressures of caring for both their parents...

November 2024

Universalizing the Access to Long-Term Care: Evidence from Spain

By Joan Costa-i-Font, Sergi Jiménez-Martín, Cristina Vilaplana Prieto & Analía Viola Spain together with Scotland are two countries that exhibit the largest expansions in long term care (LTC) in the last two decades, universalizing subsidies and supports. This paper is part of a global effort to provide a snapshot of the trends in LTC use and access, as well as the financing, and organization of the LTC system compared to other higher-income countries. The passage of Act 39/2006 on the Promotion of Personal Autonomy...

October 2024

US aging population is on a collision course with a fragile healthcare supply chain

As Americans age, the need for a steady, reliable flow of healthcare supplies will only grow Hurricane Helene, which devastated swaths of the southeastern U.S. and caused the deaths of hundreds of people, also uncovered a quieter crisis and preparedness gap that could potentially shake the U.S. healthcare system and affect the lives of millions. One of the country's largest manufacturers of intravenous bags, North Cove, N.C.-based Baxter International (BAX) - which is responsible for 60% of the nation's supply of...

US. People delaying retirement to get Medicare. Is it worth it?

I started my career with ING. After five years, I was convinced I would finish my career there. They spun off in the U.S. and, after year six, I found a new home. After five years at my new firm, and after becoming an owner, I was convinced I would finish my career there. In year eight, I sold my shares back to start my own firm. The point is that things don’t always go as planned. According to the Employee...

September 2024

Care-Dependent Target Benefit Pension Plan with Minimum Liability Gap

By Ruotian Ti, Ximin Rong, Cheng Tao & Hui Zhao With the progressive aging of populations, the significance of long-term care (LTC) services in aging societies is growing. In this paper, we integrate LTC services with pensions, studying a stochastic model for a care-dependent target benefit pension (TBP) plan. The plan members' target benefit rates are set according to the care cost for three different health states, i.e., healthy, mildly disabled and severely disabled states. And the pension contributions reflect...

July 2024

Most US adults worry about future of Medicare, Social Security, Gallup poll finds: ‘Magnitude of concern’

Adults in the U.S. are more worried than ever about whether Medicare and Social Security benefits will be available when they need them. In response to a Gallup poll released in June, 75% of adults age 65 and younger said they are “worried” or “extremely worried” about lack of Medicare availability, according to a press release. When it comes to Social Security benefits, 80% of survey respondents said the same. HEALTH CARE IS ‘OVERWHELMINGLY COMPLEX’ FOR OLDER ADULTS, EXPERTS SAY: ‘EVER-INCREASING HURDLE’ Both of those percentages...