Surfer Blog

Population of older people set to surpass number of children, report finds

US census bureau report highlights shift in global population that may bring social and economic changes worldwide.

The world is about to cross a demographic landmark of huge social and economic importance, with the proportion of the global population 65 and over set to outnumber children under five for the first time.

A new report by the US census bureau highlights a huge shift towards not just an ageing but an old population, with formidable consequences for rich and poor nations alike. The transformation carries with it challenges for families and policymakers, ranging from how to care for older people living alone to how to pay for unprecedented numbers of pensioners – more than 1 billion of them by 2040.

LINK

Man, this is going have huuuuge implications on guys my age and younger!Not just financially but think of all those slow moving drivers that'll be clogging our beach roads at the weekend & holidays Even worst, they might take-up caravaning!

It's probably me but it is really starting to feel as though some one out there is looking for a power-shift of some sort here in the UK. OK, the global economic turn-down has made things pretty crappy for some people (not all) but if you look at the evidence coming through, things haven't been a fraction as bad as during the last recession. In fact it would seem to be very short-lived and less painful to the vast majority of the population. As this article states, it is actually looking as though the huge finacial injections that this government (Labour) has used as a tool to get the country though this difficult stage is actually working. Add in the fact that mortgage lending is actually up 29% on February stats, things are really starting to look promising (but you'll not hear anyone brave or foolish enough to use the phrase 'Green Shoots').

But Shhhhhh, don't let the voter/consumer know as they might start to feel a little positive about things and get us out of this slow-down even faster

By all accounts, 'white cloud' seems to mean rain in the morning and then just over-cast & windy in the afternoon

Anyhoooo, the highlight of my day has been popping to Homebase and buying a new palm sander so I can get our balcony doors sorted ..... I've been wanting to do them for the last couple of years but keep putting it off 'til tomorrow

This is a tad worrying - N Korea threatens military action

Mr Stone was one of just three surviving veterans of the First World War in Britain, having joined the Royal Navy on his 18th birthday and followed his three older brothers by serving as a Stoker.

As well as taking part in a round-the-world 'Empire Cruise' visiting the Colonies onboard HMS Hood, he took part in the evacuation of Dunkirk, served in the 1943 Sicily landings, experienced first-hand the horrors of the 1918 Spanish Influenza pandemic and cut the hair of General Franco's brother on rescuing him from a stricken plane.

His daughter, Anne Davidson, who was at his bedside when he died, said: "William had a remarkable, long, healthy and happy life."

Of the five million people who served with British forces in the First World War, the death of Bill Stone means that only three remain:

:: Henry Allingham, 112

Henry Allingham was born on June 6 1896 in Clapton, east London.

After leaving school he worked as a surgical instrument maker at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London before later becoming a coach builder.

When war broke out in 1914 Mr Allingham was keen to join up but his mother persuaded him against the idea.

After her death, he joined the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) and qualified as a Second Class air mechanic in September 1915.

Mr Allingham narrowly missed out on speaking to King George VI while posted to the RNAS air station at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk in April 1916.

The following month he served on board HMT Kingfisher during the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea, the only major naval clash of the war.

In September 1917 he was posted to the Western Front to join No 12 Squadron (RNAS) as a mechanic and spent three months fighting in the Ypres offensive.

Mr Allingham transferred to the newly-formed Royal Air Force on April 1 1918.

After the war he joined car manufacturer Ford and married his late wife Dorothy. He has five grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, all of whom live in America.

Now Europe's oldest man, he lives at St Dunstan's care home for blind ex-service personnel in Ovingdean, near Brighton, East Sussex.

:: Harry Patch, 110

Harry Patch was born on June 17 1898 in Combe Down, near Bath, Somerset.

He followed his two older brothers into the plumbing trade after school but the start of hostilities ended the tranquility of his West Country upbringing.

Mr Patch hoped the First World War would be over before he was old enough to be conscripted but in October 1916 he was called up to serve in the Army.

The following June, just a fortnight before his 19th birthday, he was sent to France as a Private in the 7th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry.

He soon found himself thrown into the horror of the Battle of Passchendaele, which he later described as "mud, mud and more mud mixed together with blood".

On September 22, 1917 Mr Patch was badly wounded and three of his best friends were killed when a shell exploded just yards from where he was standing.

After the war he resumed his work as a plumber, married his late wife Ada and had two sons.

When the Second World War started he was too old to be conscripted but he volunteered to join the local fire service and helped save lives and homes hit by German bombing raids on Bath, Bristol and Weston-super-Mare.

Mr Patch, who now lives in a care home in Wells, Somerset, is Britain's last surviving Tommy who served in the trenches.

He said last year: "I don't feel that I am anything special, they all ought to have been here today. It was not worth it, it was not worth one life let alone all the millions."

:: Claude Choules, 107

Claude Choules was born on March 3, 1901, in Pershore, Worcestershire.

After being told he was too young to enlist in the Army to join his elder brothers fighting in the First World War, he became a Royal Navy rating in 1916, aged 14.

In 1917 he joined the battleship HMS Revenge and saw action in the North Sea.

While serving on Revenge he witnessed the surrender of the German fleet at the Firth of Forth, off Scotland's east coast, on November 21, 1918.

Allied vessels then escorted the enemy warships into internment at Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

Mr Choules was present at Scapa Flow on June 21, 1919, when the Germans scuttled their entire fleet so it would not fall into British hands.

He remained with the Royal Navy after the war and in 1926 was posted as an instructor to Flinders Naval Depot, near Melbourne, Australia.

His elder brothers having already settled in Australia, Mr Choules decided to transfer permanently to the Royal Australian Navy.

During the Second World War he was appointed chief demolition officer for the western half of Australia.

If Japan had succeeded in invading Australia it would have been his responsibility to blow up the key strategic harbour of Fremantle, near Perth, Western Australia, to make it useless to the enemy.

In 1942, when fears of a Japanese invasion were at their height, he had depth charges attached to all the ships moored in Fremantle.

After the Second World War he remained in the Royal Australian Navy before turning his hand to crayfish fishing and kangaroo culling. He now lives in Perth.

Telegraph - 13 Jan 2009