The WHO estimates that by 2050, people aged 60 and over will account for approximately 22% of the world's population.
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Caregiving work is expensive and out of reach for many families. Additionally, in many Asian societies, there is a general emphasis on families leaving their elderly loved ones at home and caring for them personally as they age.
“We know in clinical practice that these adult caregivers are at risk of burnout as caregivers and are aware that they too will be going through the aging process over the next 20 to 30 years of their lives. I observed that they felt enlightened and vulnerable,” John Wong said. Director of the Center for Mind Science at the National University of Singapore told CNBC Make It.
The World Health Organization estimates that by 2050, approximately 22% of the world's population will be over the age of 60.
According to a 2023 United Nations report, “The number of people aged 65 and over worldwide is projected to more than double, rising from 761 million in 2021 to 1.6 billion in 2050.” ” he added. The above is growing even faster.
Some Asian societies are leading this trend.
According to the World Economic Forum, “by 2050, approximately 40% of the population of Hong Kong, South Korea and Japan will be aged 65 or older.”
As people live longer, birth rates are decreasing, and core families are becoming smaller.
It will not only pose new challenges to the world's current systems and economies, but will also have a profound impact on future generations.
Jean-Emmanuel de Neve, director of the Center for Wellbeing Research at the University of Oxford, told CNBC Make It: “There is a tendency in welfare states to kind of outsource the care of older people.”
”It tends to be an issue of isolation and make older people feel helpless, but society and the younger generation have a lot to offer. ”
Home care for older people can improve their well-being, but it can also put pressure on younger generations.
“As society adapts to an aging population and the care needs of frail elderly people increases, the burden of caring for the elderly is typically borne by the sandwich population,” said Dr. Professor Wong, who is also an associate professor, said. N.U.S.
The so-called sandwich generation refers to middle-aged people who have elderly parents to care for and children of their own who are still dependent on their parents.
In addition to taking care of your parents and children emotionally and financially, you also have to take care of yourself while pursuing your career.
Younger generations have to support their aging parents and grandparents. If they too have young children, they will be squeezed into the “sandwich generation.''
Zial Streeter
Executive Director, Stanford Economic Policy Institute
“One of the key differences between baby boomers and Millennials/Gen Z is the increased emphasis and pressure on developing an individual's career and achieving personal aspirations before family needs. “Maybe,” Wong said.
“This could create unfair social pressure on Millennials and Gen Z,” he added.
According to the Pew Research Center, baby boomers are people born between 1946 and 1964. Millennials refer to people born between 1981 and 1996, and Generation Z refers to people born between 1997 and 2012.
Here are three tips for managing pressure.
- prepare in advance
- have an honest conversation with your family
- Don't forget self-care
In preparation for this time in life, people should try to have honest conversations with their families.
“This will require defining family values, setting personal goals and life aspirations, and allocating and committing personal resources,” Wong suggested.
She stressed that setting boundaries is important, but parents and children need to have this conversation beforehand to prevent burnout.
Additionally, “Have an honest conversation with your family and spouse/partner and come up with a plan to discuss how to divide caregiving duties,” said Gial Streeter, executive director of the Stanford Economic Policy Institute.
“As difficult as it is, don't forget about self-care. Often we think self-care is selfish, but it's quite the opposite. Only when we take care of ourselves do we Mentally and physically, we can: 'Take care of our loved ones,''' Streeter added.
“Older people don't necessarily have to be a burden to young people or to society,” de Neve told CNBC. “For the well-being of older people, we need to think very creatively and pragmatically about how to integrate them into meaningful and useful ways to contribute to society.”
Young generations and governments should consider solutions for how to reintegrate older people into society so that they remain active, healthy and valued members of society, De Neve said. I suggested that.
One suggestion is to put the nursery school and nursing home in the same building.
“Think of all the benefits… [the] “While giving young children perspective, we can also make the elderly feel useful by seeing life blossom through the eyes of a two-year-old,” he added.
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