The international population appears to be aging at a faster rate than ever before. Officials predict that before the year 2050, senior citizens will outnumber teenagers. Who will care for the old? If trends are a good indicator, then unfortunately the answer to that question is no one.
To add to this alarming situation, it appears that many countries have not prepared an infrastructure to deal with their growing populations of older people, according to the United Nations and an elder care group.
Only one in five older people worldwide has a pension, let alone health care. And social and economic pressures are eroding the traditional structures where families look after their old.
Despite this increasingly urgent dilemma, many old folks remain invisible to much of society, their concerns and needs ignored.
These are real fears about a lack of housing, forced dependence upon children and simply being alone. Because the fact of the matter is that no one cares about senior citizens and it is truly a drag being old.