Ageing is as we know an important global challenge we face at the moment. According to a report published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs this is also a first in the history of humanity.

"By 2050, the number of older persons in the world will exceed the number of young for the first time in history." The proportion of people above the age of 60 was 8 % in 1950, in 2050 it is expected to reach 21% , a dramatic jump.

The process of ageing is also described by them as being "pervasive" ie, something that touches everyone: men, women, children and therefore affects everything from the economic area (economic growth, savings, investment, consumption), to the social aspects of our lives (health care, family composition, living arrangements) and the political landscape (voting patterns, representation).

This also poses a great challenge for the generations which have to support the ageing one, this concept is known as the " potential support ratio, or PSR (the number of persons aged 15-64 years per one older person aged 65 years or older)" and indicates the " dependency burden on potential workers" and is of course affected by the social security schemes of old and traditional political and economic structures that were not installed for these purposes.

A perfect example is this recent Washington Post article that talks about the " fight over Social Security ...and the inevitable reallocation of resources that is sure to produce winners and losers, in the United States and around the world."

Now this is definitely a challenging context to design within.

CATEGORY: AGEING