World Population Projected to Hit 7 Billion Next Year
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Researchers say there will be seven billion people on the planet next year, with most of that growth coming from the developing world. But at the same time, they say, longer life spans and low birth rates in developed countries will lead to aging populations that will be difficult to support, reports The New York Times.
"In a sobering assessment of those two trends, William P. Butz, president of the Population Reference Bureau, said that “chronically low birthrates in developed countries are beginning to challenge the health and financial security of the elderly” at the same time that “developing countries are adding over 80 million to the population each year and the poorest of those countries are adding 20 million, exacerbating poverty and threatening the environment.
"Even in the United States, the proportion of the gross domestic product spent on Social Security and Medicare is projected to rise to 14.5 percent in 2050, from 8.4 percent this year."
This means that young people in the United States will increasingly be required to handle the financial burden for retirees, while at the same time competing for resources with other countries whose populations and economies continue to expand quickly. China has overtaken Japan as the second largest economy in the world, and is poised to outgrow the United States within 15 years.
While birthrates in the United States aren't as low as Europe or Japan, the population is buoyed by immigration, which may offset some of the birth dearth and cutbacks in social services currently happening in other developed countries.
(Photo credit: Capture Queen; C.C. 2.0)
