Demographic time-bomb: Finland sends a warning to Europe

NickOttens

From the Financial Times:

Among rich, industrialised countries only Japan and South Korea have had larger increases in recent years than Finland. While people over 85 represented just 1.5 per cent of the population in 2000, today they are 2.7 per cent, and by 2070 are expected to be close to 9 per cent.

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The lesson from Finland may be that trying to make health and elderly care costs sustainable involves the types of political choices few governments are willing to make, raising questions about long-term economic growth and the health of public finances for increasingly cash-strapped governments across Europe.

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In recent years, Finland has started to calculate its so-called sustainability gap — the long-term difference between government spending and income that will be aggravated by an ageing population. For now, it is about 4 per cent of gross domestic product.

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Beyond the pure politics and economics, experts in Finland say the debate on ageing needs to be rethought. Prof Vaarama says that it is wrong to classify all people aged over 65 as “old”. She argues true old age starts at 80-85. Before that, people could still be working and be consumers in the new so-called “silver economy”. “Society doesn’t yet understand what longevity is. We should look at how we can benefit from this population,” she adds.

NickOttens

Another article on Finland from the Financial Times:

... there is another way of viewing the shifting demographics — as an untapped opportunity for businesses to reach a new breed of customer. There has been some talk of the so-called “silver economy” but there are finally small signs that the topic is being taken more seriously in boardrooms and cabinets. 

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Technology and entertainment groups, financial services companies, home designers, travel businesses — all are not obviously connected to ageing but each one could adapt their products better to better serve older customers.

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