Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

eco3min.fr

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

41–50 of 173 posts

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#41

Post by arjie »

I think it’s time to bite the bullet and raise the retirement^W elder benefits eligibility age and peg it to life expectancy at birth minus 15 years or some structure like that. It’s fine that my generation will have to eat the loss - having paid for the past one but not benefiting as much from the coming ones. Some generation has to, and better us than them.

As we get better at healthcare and life, we should expect to be productive and care for ourselves for longer. I hope that as I age I remain in favour of succeeding generations over my own self. Plant the tree whose shade we won’t see etc.

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#42

Post by geye1234 »

mostertoaster wrote: post #25
pmontra wrote: post #11

So a lot of problems will be solved by 2049 (overpopulation) and probably many others will arise (we never had worldwide decreasing demographics.)

Overpopulation is not a problem. Maybe in a couple countries. But not for the world, and not for the west and definitely not for America. As the population has grown poverty has decreased.

Yep, absolutely right.

Energy is very easy to produce cleanly (nuclear, and solar is looking better and better). The barriers to doing so are political and financial, not technical. They will be made worse by having an aged-heavy population, which is less innovative, less willing to invest in the future, and less willing to try new things. And it makes a poorer society, obviously.

Malthus has been proved wrong at every juncture. Lack of children is about to bite us very, very hard.

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#43

Post by KPGv2 »

jppittma wrote: post #34
throw-the-towel wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a problem, because all these people want a good standard of living which strains the environment.

Each marginal person produces more than they consume. As a whole, everyone is better off for having more people.

Each marginal person does not produce more environmental benefits than they consume. It's dramatically the opposite. My butt is not a carbon capture device.

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#44

Post by subarctic »

bearjaws wrote: post #6
boczez wrote: post #4

GOOD. We’ve done well to keep everyone alive. All that’s left is to implement sensible economic policies that allow normal folk to start families

But the people disinterested in starting families (boomers, genx) are going to be the majority of the voting base? We've already seen 20 years of policy driven by people who don't care about families being started.

They still wanna be grandparents or great grandparents

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#45

Post by co_ent »

boczez wrote: post #8
bearjaws wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But the people disinterested in starting families (boomers, genx) are going to be the majority of the voting base? We've already seen 20 years of policy driven by people who don't care about families being started.

A great point, but I don’t think those policies should go after the (relatively tiny) wealth that boomers et al currently hold. As another commenter alluded to, the money is going to have to come from much bigger fish; there’s literally nowhere else to get it from!

>(relatively tiny) wealth that boomers et al currently hold

Their wealth is not liquid, but it's not relatively tiny.

>$93 trillion in assets[1]

>Total wealth: $167.26 trillion[2]

[1]https://investor.visa.com/news/news-details/2026/Visa-Resear...

[2]https://smartasset.com/financial-advisor/wealth-by-generatio...

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#46

Post by chermi »

boczez wrote: post #16
dotancohen wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overpopulation is not solved. Many African and Middle Eastern cultures continue to have half a dozen children per wife.

I don’t get this, doesn’t proof of an aging global population imply that overpopulation is solving itself? Also is it really that big of an issue? I’ve only heard bill gates talking about it, not sure what it’s got to do with that geezer tbh

It depends on whether we take care of them at the cost we currently are in the west.

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#47

Post by KPGv2 »

deeviant wrote: post #32
mostertoaster wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overpopulation is not a problem. Maybe in a couple countries. But not for the world, and not for the west and definitely not for America. As the population has grown poverty has decreased.

It's a huge problem, it's just not a problem to economic model, but the ecological one.

It's a problem to the economic model, too, but of course no one cares about more than a couple fiscal quarters in the future. The looming ecological disasters will irreversibly destroy the global economy in some of our lifetimes if nothing happens to stop it pretty soon.

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#48

Post by throw-the-towel »

Maxion wrote: post #21
wbl wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The institutions exist for people to do things like retire.

Undoubtedly they will continue to exist once the people they serve seize to exist.

Ha, this has some serious There Will Come Soft Rains energy.

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#49

Post by geye1234 »

Razengan wrote: post #39
mostertoaster wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Overpopulation is not a problem. Maybe in a couple countries. But not for the world, and not for the west and definitely not for America. As the population has grown poverty has decreased.

> Overpopulation is not a problem. That is such a privileged first-world take. You haven't lived in overpopulated places. Just try it for 1 fucking year and then see if you still wish that hell upon anyone. I swear I'm starting to wonder if that's a take pushed by ultracapitalists so they can have an endless supply of labor and consumers, like the bans on abortion etc.

No, corporations want people without children, since they have more disposable income to spend on the pointless tat they want to sell you, and are willing to work longer hours to make rich people even richer.

Re: Adults over 65 will outnumber children by 2029

#50

Post by BigTTYGothGF »

cyberax wrote: post #36

Keep building these bike lanes and 15-minute neighborhoods. So that people don't even think about having children. Make sure people have no personal space and no personal time. That's how we reduce the Earth's population!

15-minute neighborhoods with bike lanes are exactly the kinds of places good for raising kids in.
Post reply on HN