ABSTRACT
There is no doubt that the rapid increase in population aging across the globe is signaling the most astonishing demographic changes in the history of humankind (Gruber and Wise, 2004). The United Nations estimates that by the year 2025, the global population of those over 60 years will double, from 542 million in 1995 to around 1.2 billion people (Krug, 2002:125). The global population age 65 or older was estimated at 461 million in 2004, an increase of 10.3 million just since 2003. Projections suggest that the annual net gain will continue to exceed 10 million over the next decade—more than 850,000 each month. In 1990, 26 nations had older populations of at least 2 million, and by 2000, older populations in 31 countries had reached the 2 million mark (Cook and Powell, 2007). UN projections to 2030 indicate that more than 60 countries will have at least 2 million people age 65 or older.
