The big idea: A population is ageing when the share of older people (65+) rises while the share of children (under-15) falls.
It usually happens because of two long-term trends:
- Falling fertility - families have fewer children, so the base of the population narrows. - Rising life expectancy - people live longer, so the top of the population widens.
If deaths start to outnumber births and immigration is low, the total population can also decline.
Key terms
- Ageing population - one in which the proportion of people aged 65+ is rising.
- Declining population - one that is shrinking in total size (deaths + emigration exceed births + immigration).
- Old-age dependency ratio - the number of people 65+ compared with every 100 of working age.
- Pension - regular income paid to retired people, often funded by today's workers' taxes.
Why it matters: An ageing society has more dependants who are no longer working and fewer workers to support them - this is what creates the social and economic pressures examiners ask about.
Economic difficulties
- Smaller workforce - fewer working-age people means less output and a shrinking tax base.
- Higher pension costs - more retirees draw pensions for longer, straining government budgets.
- Rising healthcare spending - older people need more medical and long-term care.
Social difficulties
- Care burden on families - relatives must care for elderly parents, with less time for paid work.
- Loneliness and isolation - many elderly people live alone, raising mental-health needs.
- Pressure on services - hospitals, care homes and housing must adapt to an older society.
Get feedback like a real examiner
Submit your answers and get instant feedback — what you did well, what's missing, and exactly what to write to score full marks.
Try AI Tutor Free7-day free trial • No card required
Easing the pressure: Governments use policies to soften an ageing society's costs. They fall into a few groups - and different countries pick different ones depending on culture, wealth and politics.
Common strategies
- Raise the pension/retirement age - people work longer, paying tax for longer and drawing pensions for less time.
- Encourage immigration of workers - young migrants fill jobs and pay taxes, widening the workforce.
- Pro-natalist incentives - cash bonuses, childcare and parental leave to lift the birth rate.
- Automation and productivity - robots and technology offset the smaller workforce.
How this is tested: Paper 2 Question 1 opens on a figure: a bar graph of ageing policies, an age-sex chart of an ageing society, or a projection graph of dependent age groups.
You State / Estimate / Identify values, then Describe a trend with figures. Always quote the units and a number.
[Diagram: geo-population-pyramid] - Available in full study mode
| Age group | 2020 | 2060 |
|---|---|---|
| Under-15s (young) | 13 | 10 |
| 65 and over (old) | 28 | 38 |
IB-style question - read the projection
Using the projection table: (a) state the projected share of over-65s in 2060 [1]; (b) estimate the change in the under-15 share from 2020 to 2060 [1]; (c) describe how the two dependent age groups change between 2020 and 2060 [2].
How to answer each part
- (a) State the value. Read the 65+ row, 2060 column -> 38%.
- (b) Estimate the change. Under-15s go 13% -> 10%, a fall of about 3 percentage points.
- (c) Describe with figures. The young dependants fall (13% to 10%) while the old dependants rise sharply (28% to 38%) - the population is ageing, with the elderly share growing fastest.
Final answer
(a) 38%; (b) a fall of about 3 percentage points; (c) under-15s fall (13->10%) and over-65s rise (28->38%) - a clear ageing trend.
Describe needs numbers: On a Describe part, state the direction (rises/falls) AND quote figures for each group. No causes needed - that is for Explain.