Action needed as population ages

By far the most dominant demographic influence on the Western Australian economy – and most developed economies for that matter – is that of the baby boomers.

Business and planning decisions in WA require an assessment of the economic effect of the largest easily identified group in the nation’s population, defined as the two million Australians born between 1946 and 1965.

WA is estimated to have more than its fair share of those, about half a million. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the fertility rate in WA during the baby boom was almost half a child higher than the national average.

A recent report claimed that the boomers hold about $1 trillion in assets, or 40 per cent of the nation’s wealth.

This presents a significant opportunity not only from a marketing perspective, but also presents a number of challenges in preparation for the impending demands on healthcare and other services.

As they retire, the baby boomers are expected to increase their travel habits, and WA is poised to take advantage of this with promising predictions about the prospects for tourism in regional WA.

And as baby boomers age, the growing pressure on the health system is making itself known in a number of ways. This expected health pinch undoubtedly represents one of the greatest challenges currently facing the sector in WA.

While there are not yet firm statistics on the likely increase in demand for health services, as this depends on a variety of factors, there are plenty of statistics on the current health needs of the state’s baby boomers.

According to the WA Health Department, there will be a 40 per cent increase in the number of seniors by 2011, representing 20 per cent of the state’s population. Within 20 years all of the baby boomers will be seniors, and by then seniors will account for more than a quarter of WA’s population.

In 2001, the leading cause of death for WA baby boomers was cancer, with 68.5 deaths per 100,000 people, according to the ABS.

The proportion of the state’s baby boomers that are significantly overweight or obese is not significantly higher than that for seniors, at 50 per cent.

Since 1989-90, however, the proportion of adult Australians who were overweight or obese has risen by 23 per cent. If this trend continues, the proportion of seniors at risk from coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, depression and cancer is expected to rise.

And it seems the health of some baby boomers is at risk from their own lifestyle choices.

One quarter of them are currently smokers, a higher percentage than pre-seniors and seniors today, and 14 per cent consume risky amounts of alcohol.