Position Paper on Managing an Aging Population

School: Maryknoll Convent School

Country: The Netherlands

The world is now confronted with a problem of population ageing. This

problem can be attributed to sustained low and late fertility, increased life
expectancy due to medical advances, changing family formation patterns and
growing international migration trends. This problem is ubiquitous around
the more developed countries, and such a problem has an adverse impact on
countries as it will reduce economic growth and increase the amount of
resources needed to be allocated to the elderly, which in turn puts pressure on
healthcare insurance systems and retirement-income-systems. Hence, it is
imperative that we come up with solutions to alleviate the situation at hand.

The Netherlands, being one of the most developed nations in the world, feels
this problem acutely with an increasing aging population. Our median age is
40.8 years old, which is comparatively higher than other nations as we
currently rank 22nd. At present, there are 2.5 million seniors aged 65 or more,
and that number is estimated to skyrocket to 4.5 million by the year 2050.
However, the Netherlands is better placed among other OECD countries as we
have a large, funded occupational pension system in place. We have also
implemented the Algemene Ouderdoms Wet, a general seniority law, which
installed a state pension, guaranteed for all elderly.

The Netherlands also has one of the lowest birth rates in the world. This is
largely due to the fact that most women in our country are highly educated
and therefore less inclined to giving birth to children as they are relatively
more career-oriented than their counterparts in less developed nations.
Information on birth control methods has been made widely accessible to
teenagers due to our refined sex education system. Since most young adults
use them effectively, the Netherlands has the lowest teenage pregnancy rate in
the world. We also rank high in our share of women who are still childless in
their early 30’s. Currently, most women in the Netherlands begin having
children at the age of 34. Research has also shown that the higher the
education a woman receives, the less likely she is to give birth to children.
With the level of education among Dutch women increasing, the birth rate in
the Netherlands is decreasing substantially.
In tackling the problem, the Netherlands has established regulations to ensure
child allowances as well as parental and maternity leave to encourage couples
to give birth to children. We are also planning to implement a better
immigration strategy to bring in skilled foreign workers and reduce barriers to
lesser skilled workers where possible in the hope that increased migration to
the country will alleviate the problem.

The Netherlands is intent on solving the problem of an aging population

alongside other nations as this will have an adverse impact on our countries in
political, economic and social spectrums. Hence, the Netherlands hereby
encourages all nations to work side by side in achieving a better future for all.