Use of English

Greying Societies

The (0) DEFINING demographic story of the twenty-first century is not a baby boom but its opposite: societies growing older, and doing so at speed. While longer lives are a triumph of public health, they also (1) .......... a set of fiscal and social dilemmas that governments have been slow to confront. Pension systems designed for shorter retirements are being (2) .......... to breaking point, and healthcare budgets are forced to (3) .......... with chronic conditions that require long-term management rather than one-off cures. Yet the challenge is not merely arithmetic. In many countries, the ratio of workers to retirees is (4) .........., leaving fewer taxpayers to fund services that more people will need. Employers, meanwhile, must (5) .......... with how to retain older staff without blocking progression for younger colleagues, and how to redesign roles so that experience is not lost to premature exit. Policy responses often sound straightforward—raise the retirement age, encourage migration, boost productivity—but each comes (6) .......... political trade-offs. And if the debate is framed as a battle between generations, it can quickly (7) .......... into resentment. A more durable approach is to treat longevity as a resource: invest in prevention, support carers, and build cities that are (8) .......... to living well at every age.