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发帖数: 1 | 1 Aging population to hit U.S. economy like a 'ton of bricks': US commerce
secretary
WASHINGTON - President Joe Biden does not yet have enough support from
fellow Democrats to secure $400 billion in spending for at-home care for the
elderly and disabled that the economy desperately needs, Commerce Secretary
Gina Raimondo told Reuters on Monday.
Raimondo, who is paying for round-the-clock care for her own 90-year-old
mother, said America’s aging demographics were going to hit the country "
like a ton of bricks" without increased federal aid, and warned the current
situation was "untenable."
Failure to act, she said in an interview, would harm the U.S. economy by
making it difficult for women - who fell out of the workforce by the
millions during the COVID-19 pandemic - often to look after out-of-school
children or parents - to return to work or remain in the workforce.
As post-World War Two baby boomers become senior citizens, there is a
dangerous deficit of caregivers looming, Biden officials and many experts on
aging say.
Currently, 16.5% of the U.S. population of 328 million people, or 54 million
, are over the age of 65, the latest census shows. By 2030, that number will
rise to 74 million. The number of people over the age of 85, who generally
need the most care, is growing even faster. |
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