From China to the US, spending on healthcare, housing and education must rise

Ageing societies and the pandemic-induced shock to the medical system will drive spending to address capacity shortfalls and improve long-term care services

Meanwhile, a growing middle-class population and the rising cost of living call for greater spending on affordable housing and education

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Elderly residents tend to a child near a carousel at a shopping centre in Beijing. Photo: AP

Marcella Chow

Marcella Chow, executive director, is a global market strategist at J.

Published: 10:00pm, 29 Jul 2022Updated: 12:27am, 30 Jul 2022

The pursuit of a better quality of life amid a growing but ageing population and social inequality exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic has led to vast demand for improved social infrastructure.

An important component of infrastructure-spending proposals relates to the upgrading of medical infrastructure. A key reason for this is the uptick in old-age dependency ratios. The effects of a growing “silver generation” and falling fertility rates mean the proportion of old-age population relative to the working-age population has increased significantly.

The old-age dependency ratio in China rose from 12.7 per cent in 2010 to 18.8 per cent in 2021, and in the same period it rose from 21.8 per cent to 29.5 per cent in the United States. As average life expectancy continues to rise and fertility rates remain stagnant, increasing old-age dependency ratios will put extra strain on existing healthcare systems and elder-care service providers.