Aging Populations in Comparative Perspective

The aim of this chapter is to analyze the rapid demographic expansion in the proportion of older people across the globe and to highlight the main social and economic forces causing this. Specific areas of the globe such as Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa will be focused on in detail before we discuss some of the key challenges and consequences of global aging for the global society. The chapter further highlights how globalization and global aging are colossal driving forces that raise critical questions about the power of the individual nation state to deal with a global problem: an aging population.