PETALING JAYA: The numbers paint a worrying picture – nearly 40% Malaysians do not have a retirement plan, which has experts calling for government intervention to forestall a crisis.
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Indications are that the country’s population is growing old at a faster rate that had been previously thought. What are the repercussions economically and socially?
HANDLING the challenges of an ageing society will strain the nation’s resources as the number of elderly people in the country rises rapidly, population data shows.
Estimations by the United Nations indicate that Malaysia will be an aged nation within a generation, with 17% of the people aged at least 80 by 2045.
In the light of this trend, the care economy, which includes care for the elderly, has huge potential, says Social Wellbeing Research Centre (SWRC) director Datuk Emeritus Professor Norma Mansor.
“Demand for care is only likely to increase as the population grows older, making the need for public investment in quality care jobs and services, combined with inclusive social protection systems, ever more urgent to meet future demands,” she says in an email interview with The Edge.