17 Countries Facing An Economy Crushing Demographic Crisis by Gregory White in BusinessInsider.com highlights OECD countries projected to have a worse than average “dependency ratio” by 2050: the ratio of those not in the labor force (and thus dependent) to those typically in the labor force (thus the productive). Dependency is worsening in some countries due to the aging of the population: extended life spans and lowered childbirth rates means that more people are living long after their retirement, but with insufficient retirement funds set aside they are dependent on someone else (especially for programs like Social Security, in which payments from those working now pay for those who are already retired–not the invested funds of retirees during their lifetime). The Top Five worst off in 2050 based on these projections: Germany, South Korea, Spain, Italy, and no. 1, Japan.
Some impacts:
- In a period where most people make their spiritual decisions by the age of 14, we will be increasing left in a world where people are past the “4/14 Window” and few new potential believers are entering it. In these countries the task will be one of reaching the elderly.
- Since people are living longer, there is a new trend of putting off religious decisions for “later.”
- The potential economic crisis could devastate mission giving in these countries. While this is less of an issue in the European countries and Japan, South Korea is another matter.
What do you think? How is your mission retooling for outreach in an aging world?
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