Объяснение:

As medical science progresses, we are becoming an increasingly elderly society and, although living

to a ripe old age can only be a good thing, it brings with it a large number of problems that we have yet

to deal with properly. One such problem is that the burden of financing care for the elderly seems to

be falling on a reduced percentage of the working population. The gradual but steady trend towards

smaller families is likely to result in a smaller number of people to pay for the requirements of an

increasingly elderly population. The services needed by the elderly appear to have stretched to

breaking point. Nursing homes, homecare, meals on wheels and so on all need more investment if we

wish our elderly to live as fulfilled and independent a life as possible.

Young people today are encouraged to start saving with personal pension schemes as early as

possible to ensure an adequately financed retirement, since it is predicted that state pension levels in

the future will not be enough to guarantee a continuation of the lifestyle they have become

accustomed to. But we still have to cope with an expanding older population who are discovering too

late that the steps they had taken to guarantee an income for their later years were not sufficient.

Obviously, the pressure on public funds to subsidize this shortfall is enormous.

(After Virginia Evans, Linda Edwards, Upstream Advanced)