CULTURAL CONTEXT OF THE COMMUNITY

Cultural Context of the Community

Cultural Context of the Community

Introduction

Population aging is a worldwide phenomenon. The demographic transition from a state with high fertility and mortality rates to a state with low fertility, low mortality, and increased longevity has changed the well-known population pyramid into what looks more like a rectangle or a skyscraper. This means fewer children and more old-aged people in relation to those of working age. Aging started in the industrialized world and has thus gone farther in these countries than in developing countries, where it started later. The transition is far from complete in the industrialized world, and aging is forecast to go on during the entire period of prognosis, up to the year 2050 (McDonald, 2006). Population aging has caused anxieties about the economic effects of aging: the possibilities of supporting an increasing number of older persons with a shrinking workforce.

Issues of Older Adults

Today, there is much talk of an aging population. Governments are concerned about pensions and health services, television ads are often featured older actors, and the business community looking for new products to attract consumers for the elderly. We live longer, not only in Canada but worldwide (United Nations, 2011). For example, Canadians born in 1960 can expect to live twenty years longer than those born in 1900. At the same time, the birth rate has declined, so that the proportion of people aged over 65 is growing. By the year 2031, it will be 20 percent (Raine, 2005). This fact has important consequences.

Aging is a biological process that begins at birth and ends at death. However, it is society that defines the elderly: it means to qualify as a person 65 years or more. Until recently it was the age at which most Canadians they retired and began to receive a pension, but this is changing. In several provinces, the laws on human rights have abolished mandatory retirement (Bongaarts and Sinding, 2011).

Old age is not defined solely by chronological age. In fact, the elderly are not a homogenous group, there may be differences between them age 35 or even 40 years. Therefore, some divide over 65 sub-categories: "the elderly", the "old" and "very old". As Canadians live longer, the proportion of the population represented by each of these subcategories is also changing (Shields and Martel, 2006). Demographers predict that by 2031, 45 percent of seniors will be among the "very old". The varying proportions of these sub-categories have a significant impact on the financing of pensions, employment and housing, health services and, in particular, on the place of older people in Canadian society. Indeed, many of these Canadians are taking on new roles that allow them to contribute to Canada's future (Mason, 2007).

Myths and Realities

At the same time, it belongs to a group with common characteristics. Thus, according to statistics, women in Canada generally live longer than men. They represent 60 percent of more than 65 years: at this age, their life expectancy is 19 ...