ABSTRACT
Throughout the developed world the average age of populations is increasing. The New Zealand Department of Statistics’ population projection for 1991-2031 predicts that compared with a median age of 30 years in 1988, by 2031 half of the population of New Zealand will be older than 41, and there will be an increase of 62 percent in the number of people in the 40-59 age group (an increase of 425,000 people), reflecting the passage into middle age of the large number of children bom during the ‘baby-boom’ period of 1945-65 and shortly thereafter. This increase in the population’s median age is consistent with the experiences and projections of a number of other more developed countries.
