Population ageing: experiences from some “super-aged” Asian countries and feasible solutions for Vietnam

Abstract

The statement of "aging in the 21st century" raised by the United Nations Population Fund Association has been a prominent socio-economic issue around the world, and in reality, the rate of aging has occurred in many countries at an unprecedented pace. Though the aged population could be considered as the huge achievement of human beings in terms of socio-economic growth along with the blended life expectancy, the aging population possibly causes difficulties and challenges toward elderly people and the society as well. Some Asian countries have been confronted with the demographic change as the life expectancy gradually increases but the fertility and mortality are significantly declined. Vietnam among Asian countries was one of the nations with the highest pace of aging rate across the world. Thereby, grasping the deep understanding of the factors impacting on aging and its consequences on socio-economics become a crucial social issue for Vietnam. With the aim towards prescribing appropriate and sustainable social security policies from the perspective of the population, we will focus on analyzing and comparing the challenges and difficulties faced by Asia's 'super-aged' countries as well as the effective policies that they have implemented to solve their problems. For the purpose of harnessing the merits of the "golden population" period and improving the current quality of population, we then propose some policy implications relative to financial security, health care, and expect to create a friendly environment for the elderly.