WARSAW, March 21 (Xinhua) -- The percentage of elderly people in Poland is constantly rising, Professor Piotr Szukalski, demography expert from University of Lodz, was quoted as saying.
On Tuesday, Polish Press Agency reported that according to current data, there are over 1.6 million people very advanced in age, which means an eightfold increase in comparison to that in 1950, when this group was only 180,000. Therefore, the eldest people currently constitute 4 percent of the population.
Szukalski believed this is an inevitable process, which is connected with better living conditions and the progress of medicine. The aging process is more severe in Lodzkie, Swietokrzyskie and Podlaskie regions.
The high percentage of the elderly is also a result when young people leave these regions in search for job opportunities. Another vital problem is relatively low child birth rate.
This causes a necessity of providing system and institutional support, including 24/7 professional care facilities and nursery homes. Szukalski emphasized that so far, many care-related problems are solved by family members, but in future, considering the lower birth rate, young people's migration abroad, the elderly might no longer count on this type of care.
A solution to the problem might be the development of advances technologies, providing care, medical and nursing help. It will, however, be a costly solution, which does not also compensate for the lack of intimacy and feeling of loneliness. Enditem
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