Anthropology and Population: Perspectives on Aging
Anthropology and Population: Perspectives on Aging

Summary/Abstract: In the last decades it was noticed a significant demographic growth, as world population surpassed 7.3 billion persons in 2015. The increasing number of people was linked to a significant increase in the number of older persons in the population. This trend is projected to accelerate in the coming years, the global population of older persons is going to reach 1.4 billion in 2030 and 2.1 billion in 2050. In Romania, in 2015, the population of 65 years and older, represented 16% of the total population. In the period 2015 - 2050 the forecasted values are much higher, reaching over 30% of the elderly population. From this point of view, the ascending of the "graying" population involves changes in many fields of society, from social to economic ones. The paper focuses on presenting the anthropological perspective in the study of population in general and the understanding of the experience of growing old. It examines the global changes in the age structure of the population and the future trends of the demographic characteristics. At national level, the article explores the changes in the age characteristics of the population, the demographic drivers of the aging of population and the challenges posed by the growth in the number and share of older persons. Also, it will underline the peculiarities of the process of aging, an approach that shows human aging related to social and biological changes.

• Details
• Contents