The United Nations Population Fund has picked October 31 as the day the world will be home to 7 billion people.

For better and worse, it's a milestone.

And there will be more milestones ahead. Fourteen years from now, there are expected to be 8 billion people on the planet. Most of the growth will occur in the world's poorer countries. Proportionally, Europe's population will decline, while Africa's will increase. At around the same time, India will overtake China as the most populous nation on Earth.

The growing global population is just one side of the coin. A recent report from the World Health Organization signaled the seriousness of the human population explosion: more than 3 billion people - about half the world's population - are malnourished. Never before have so many, or such a large proportion, of the world's people been malnourished

And in a growing number of countries there is a seemingly unstoppable march toward sub-replacement fertility, whereby each new generation is less populous than the previous one, and population aging.

As a result of declining fertility and increasing longevity, the populations of more and more countries are aging rapidly. Between 2005 and 2050, a rise in the population aged 60 years or over will be visible, whereas the number of children (persons under age 15) will decline slightly.

Population aging represents, in one sense, a success story for mankind, but it also poses profound challenges to public institutions that must adapt to a changing age structure.

The latest national census in China shows the number of elderly people in the country has jumped to more than 13.3 percent of the population, an increase of nearly 3 percentage points on the percentage from the previous census in 2000. A quarter of the country's population will be over 65 by 2050, according to the National Population and Family Planning Commission.

The growing number of elderly is a challenge that the government needs to tackle, we can't rely on the ever-increasing population to support them or maintain the nation's economic growth. Better solutions are needed, such as raising retirement ages to reflect the greater longevity and working capability of today's older adults and making adjustments so pension programs are more accessible.

It was heartening to hear the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security spokesperson announced in Beijing on Tuesday that the government will take the retirement policy seriously and proactively.

Shanghai began testing a flexible retirement system last October. Eligible employees in the private sector are allowed to postpone retirement until the age of 65 for men and 60 for women. Public servants, however, will continue to retire under the present system age 60 for men and 55 for women.

(China Daily 10/27/2011 page8)