Michelle McQuigge, The Canadian Press | September 29, 2015 | Last Updated:Sep 30 1:09 PM ET
Overview:
As of today Statistics Canada released their numbers of
seniors above age 65 and kids under the age of 15 to find out that for the
first time ever, seniors are outnumbering kids from the most recent study
conducted July 1st, 2015. Stats
Canada says that the aging of our baby boomers (babies born between 1946-1965)
are what is the cause of this rare event where the seniors are more plentiful
than young kids. The agency said the population growth rate for Canadians over
the age of 65 was 3.5 per cent, nearly quadrupling the national average by 0.9
percent. The most serious implication of this happening is the increase of the
Health Care System, this means that taxes may increase. A study done by Western
University says that this impact of aging citizens isn’t just issue in Canada,
but as well as Europe and Asia, which as of now has a much higher citizen rate
than Canada presently. In Canada, New Brunswick currently has the highest
senior rate with 19%, while Nunavut has the lowest with only 3.9% seniors.
Another reason that they suspect is the cause for this is international
migration rate is dropping each year. This means that family’s from around the
world that has young kids are not coming into Canada, therefore not increasing
the youth population. Last year the number was 0.7% for families coming to
Canada and this year it’s dropped to 0.4%. With more seniors than youth, you
would expect a bunch of new problems to arise over the next few years.
The picture above shows an elderly person and a younger
person holding hands.
My opinion
My initial reaction to first hearing that
seniors for the first time are over populating the youth really surprised me, I
did not expect that to happen. Seeing that I will be getting a job and starting
a career for myself in the next few years as the baby boomers retire, I am
worried that this may cause a large increase in my tax’s I have to pay so that
it can go towards seniors health. By all means I am not saying I do not want to
put some of my money to help others, I’m just saying that maybe Canada needs to
start letting in some immigrants so that they can help pay those fees. Since
they are saying there are more seniors than youth, that means that each young
person making a living will have to pay a lot more money, rather than if Canada
lets immigrants come in and help. In my opinion we need younger workers to help
this economy grow and thrive, it would be not only beneficial for our nation
but also for each individual citizen. In my conclusion to this, I hope that the
newly elected government recognizes what is going on and makes a change,
helping the seniors, the youth/developing workers and the country.
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