Who Is Afraid of Population Aging? Myths, Challenges and an Open Question from the Civil Economy Perspective

Abstract

Population aging is a great human achievement, but the economic literature normally addresses its effects in a narrow way and as a “problem” to be solved. The objective of this paper is to provide a more balanced approach to aging by calling into question some widespread ideas in the economic literature on aging, such as its supposed negative influence on economic growth, its impact on labor productivity or the assumption that aging societies are incapable of applying reforms. The paper adopts the renewed civil economy framework and takes as a reference the existing literature about beliefs and wrong assumptions on aging. The innovative contribution of this analysis lies in its effort to foster a positive perspective in the population aging field of research and in challenging negative associations regarding old-age stereotypes.

Reviewing the Benefits of Aging Populations: Care Activities Provided by the Older People as a Commons

“…Nevertheless, the economic literature analyzes population aging from a negative perspective, and as a problem to be solved ( 14 ). As mentioned above, as a “common evil.” In this line, there are numerous negative references to aging.…”

“…In this sense, it is important to highlight that there are authors who defend a non-alarmist view and an understanding of population aging from a more sensible perspective ( 14 , 28 , 51 – 53 ).…”

“…The impetus of theoretical frameworks of aging was addressed by seminal reference works such as Emergent theories of aging ( 3 ), and subsequently expanded in others as Handbook of Theories of Aging ( 10 – 12 ). In addition, there have been other recent attempts to analyze the phenomenon of population aging through humanistic theoretical frameworks ( 13 , 14 ).…”

The Employment Ecosystem of Bizkaia as an Emerging Common in the Face of the Impact of COVID-19

“…This "landscape shock" of dramatic consequences also opens up a window of opportunity to adapt institutions and policies so that they can respond not only to the present pandemic, but also to other challenges on the horizon, such as the climate emergency (Briggs et al 2015;Steffen et al 2018;Ripple et al 2019;, demographic ageing (Calvo-Sotomayor et al 2019;Calvo-Sotomayor et al 2020), the green transition (Atutxa Ordeñana et al 2020), and the digital revolution (Verhoef et al 2021;Hodson 2018;Arnaldi et al 2010;Boas et al 2005). The following results show the efforts made by Bizkaia Provincial Council to mitigate COVID-19's impact on employment through the use of the previously characterized governance and interpretation framework of the Commons.…”

Fear of Falls and Frailty: Cause or Consequence or Both?

“…only avert falls as well as falls fears, but to better understand the origins of falls attributable to excess fear that can prevail even in the absence of any actual overt falls experience. Based on the current literature, it also appears comprehensive assessments, longitudinal exploratory studies, plus an inter disciplinary approach, along with well designed efficacy studies that focus on heightening positive cognitions, provider knowledge, falls self-efficacy, efforts to counter the multiple negative mythologies of aging as purely a declining and negative economic state, plus personalized home-based one dimensional or multi component exercise interventions, and the provision of access to safe indoor and outdoor environments, efficacious social support, medication safety, and needed nutrient and educational resources will be especially helpful in this regard and are strongly encouraged[62][63][64][65][66][67][68].ConclusionsBased on the Prevailing Data, it is Concluded that I. Fear of falling is a potentially reversible correlate of frailty among the elderly.…”