Demographic aspects of aging

Population aging is occurring in almost all developed countries, albeit with differences in timing and intensity. This unprecedented phenomenon is evident not only in the change in the population age structure, but also in the impressive increase in the average length of life. After describing past, current, and future population trends, this contribution presents theories explaining the reasons for this long-term process that is completely reshaping the age structure of the population. It also describes the inequalities in aging (focusing in particular on the differences by gender, education, and cause of death), and introduces some measures of the individual health and economic consequenc…