Institutions:
Introduction
Aging comes with changes in ability to generate income and an increase in expenditures. That owes to the reduced ability to work and increased need of care. In that respect, the elderly needs sustainable sources of income that can substitute the active employment or work earnings as well as cater for the increased expenditure. In that view, this report presents an analysis of the old adult’s income sources expenditure and impact on the society as well as ways of improving their economic status. To achieve the objective, the report begins with a summary of the sources of income for the aged followed by their expenditures. The report then explains the suitable government systems reforms that can help achieve a balance between the elderly income and expenditures. Further, there is an analysis of the economic impact that the elderly have on a family. Finally, the report explains the suitable cost effective administrative programs that can be developed for the adults care.
Analysis
Elderly sources of income
Old age comes with limited ability to engage in active employment and participation in income generating activities. Thus, the old age have limited income from active working compared to the young and middle-aged (Fries, 2012). However, there are various sources of incomes for the group. The sources of income can be summarized as follows
Saving
Savings are a key source of income for the old aged. That is because the aged have had time to accumulate funds throughout their active lives in employment and other gainful activities.
Pension
Having worked for longer years, the aged accumulate pension that they mainly rely on after their retirement. In that respect, the pension is a key source of income for those who had been in active employment and provided a constant flow of income depending on their employment years’ earning levels.
Investments
People invest in their young and middle ages accumulating assets that provide income during old age when they are not in active employment. In that respect, investments are a crucial source of income without a need or with less need for the old people’s active participation in their operations.
Family support
Depending on the relationship between the old people and their families or relatives, there is family support from the young and middle-aged family members who are in active employment or engaged in gainful activities. In that respect, the income could be inconsistent or limited.
Community support
Some old people lack sources of income such as investments. Pension, saving and family support could get help from the community or some organizations caring for the aged. That provides an income for them to cater for basic needs such as health, shelter, food and clothing (Novak, 2012).
Elderly expenditures
Old age comes with increased need for care given increased demand for services such as healthcare, home care as well as other services to aid daily routine operations. Thus, there are more Expenditures of a personal nature for the old aged compared to the young and middle-aged groups (Fries, 2012).The elderly types of expenditures can be summarized as follows
Healthcare
With age, bodies become weak hence a need for beer care and treatments. In that respect, the elderly have more need for health care services than the young and middle-aged. Thus, the age groups have a significant spending on healthcare-related services including checkups, medicine other health services.
Housing
Although housing is a key expenditure for various age groups including the middle aged, it is a more crucial aspect for the aged owing to some added needs that could include need for amenities such as heating and housing designs that suits heir special needs. In that respect, housing and accommodation-related expenditure are relatively higher for the old aged compared to the young and middle-aged.
Travel and Leisure
Old age comes with increased free time as most people leave active employment and work. In that respect, the aged have more time for leisure and travel hence increasing their spending on the activities. In that view, travel and leisure take a significant portion of the old people’s income compared to the young and middle ages who have less time for the activities.
Food and clothing
Old age has special needs in terms of nutrition as the elderly health deteriorates and requires health food. In that respect, there is increased concern over the foods as the elderly have demand for more nutritious diet. That significantly changes their food budget compared to the young and middle-aged people.
Personal care
With increased need for better care, there is a need for more and beer personal care items’ for the old aged. In that respect, they have relatively higher spending on personal care compared to the young (Fries, 2012).
Government systems reforms in support of the elderly income expenditure balance
The government has a responsibility for enhancing people’s welfare including the old age. In that respect, there is a need for systems that can help breach the gap between the old aged people’s incomes and expenditures (Lubitz, Cai, Kramarow & Lentzner, 2003, p. 1051). In that respect, the following reforms could help breach the gap between the old people’s income and expenditure.
Expenditure reducing reforms: The major expenditure for the old people involves healthcare service spending. In that respect, reforms should focus on reducing the expenditures as a means of balancing them with the income. That could involve enhancing more access to public healthcare insurance for the aged. In that respect, there should be healthcare cover programs specifically for the old aged that would reduce the healthcare burden. Further, the government could establish more social support programs for the old aged focusing on providing access to affordable housing as well as commodities such as food products. That could be done on controlled asses to subsidized goods and accommodation specifically and limited to people of certain age and income bracket. That would ensure access nutritious diets and decent accommodation reasonable prices that would reduce spending.
Economic impact of the aged on family and society
The limited income sources and increased expenditure for the old adult’s results to an imbalance between their income and expenditure. Thus, there is a need for support that mainly comes from family members. In that view, the situation has an economic impact on the family. The economic impact on the family can be from the following aspects
Limited income source: Given the elderly limited sources of income, they increase the dependency ratio in a family hence reducing the income per person. In that respect, those earning an income have added dependants to support.
Increased spending: With age, spending on various aspects such as health, food and personal acre increases. Thus, there is an increase in the family budget that is catered for by the family. That reduces savings and investments for the family given the increased dependency ratio.
In respect to the effects on the whole society, the increased spending with reduced income also means increased demand for government support. Thus, there is a higher demand for government funds to support the old aged healthcare and social support programs. Considering that the services and programs are funded with taxpayers’ money, the old aged impose a higher burden on the society compared to the middle and the young aged. Further, the old aged people’s inability to actively participate in active employment increases the overall society decency ratio and income per capita hence reducing the overall economic welfare. (Cox, 2006).
Cos effective programs for the elderly
Developing cost-effective programs for the old aged entails establishing programs that provide a sustainable income source while managing their expenditures and limiting the burdens to the society. In that respect, cost-effective programs would mean reducing tax burden but enhancing the old people welfare. Such programs would entail preventive programs such as adult education programs educating them about personal care, nutrition, and health matters. The education would help the elderly and those caring for them to improve their health and personal care reducing health and personal problems that have a higher cost of the government and healthcare. On the other hand, providing better access to healthcare through health care programs tailored for the aged people would be suitable for enhancing their health and reducing the healthcare burden on them and their families (Roth, West & Burgio, 2008, p. 227).
Conclusion
Given the analysis, it is clear that the old adults have limited sources of income compared with the young and the middle-aged while their expenditures are relatively higher. The sources of income have been identified to include savings, investments, pension, family support, community, and support. On the other hand, expenditures have been identified to include healthcare, food and housing as well as a personal acre and travel. Thus, the group has an economic impact on the family and society as they provide support given the gap between the income and expenditure. Such support would be through reforms such as subsidizing of accommodation and specific food items’ limited to the old aged group as well as providing more access to healthcare services that would reduce their key expenditures. However, it has been identified that the needed support has an economic burden on the society through increased funding of the programs with taxpayers’ money as well as increased dependency in families. That impact is in the form of the support needed to breach their income-expenditure gap and requires government intervention with suitable systems that can reduce the gap. However, it has been identified that there is a need to develop cost-effective programs that do not heavily burden the society in caring for the old aged while enhancing their welfare. The programs could include those targeted at reducing healthcare and personal problems as well as improving the old peoples’ welfare through education programs on health, nutrition and personal care. Also, providing healthcare programs targeted at the old people would be suitable given their special needs hence ability to develop cost-effective programs reducing the burden on the society.
References
Cox, H. (2006). Later Life: The Realities of Aging. 6th Ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Fries, J. (2012). The Theory and Practice of Active Aging. Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research Volume 2012 Article ID 420637. Retrieved from, http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/420637
Lubitz, L., Cai, E., Kramarow, E. & Lentzner, H. (2003). Health, life expectancy, and health care spending among the elderly. The New England Journal of Medicine, 349(11), 1048–1055.
Novak, M. (2012). Issues in aging. 4th Ed. New York: Pearson Publishers.
Roth, D., West, S. & Burgio, K. (2008). A multidimensional approach to under-standing under-eating in homebound older adults: The importance of social factors. Gerontologist . 48, 223-234.
