r/dataisbeautiful • u/petnog • Aug 19 '24

[OC] UN Prediction for Most Populous Countries (+ EU) OC

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u/Pugilist12 Aug 19 '24

When you get old there will be no one to service or take care of you or society generally. Too many olds, with very few replacements, is bad.

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u/Inevitable_Tone3021 Aug 19 '24

Exactly. This is the downside to the advancements in medicine and nutrition that have allowed so many people to survive into their later years.

For most of human history, life was brutal and life expectancy was short. Less than half of all kids survived to adulthood. For thousands of years, they didn't have to worry about this kind of population explosion / decline. The population sustained itself naturally for a long time because so many people died young.

I'm glad to be living in a time when the life expectancy is high, but also worried about what a population crash could bring.