The aging population of Japan Essay Example

The aging population of Japan Paper Japan is the oldest Nation in the world. The percentage of the population above 65 years is 19. 7%, which is 25. 2 million Japanese. This is higher than most of the other aging countries such as Italy 19. 6%, Germany 18. 6%, and France 16. 3%. This percentage has increased drastically since 1950 when it was 4. 9% and it is expected to reach 36. 5% by 2050. This obviously have a huge impact on the over all dependency ratio. 1 The average life expectancy in Japan is 81. 6 (77. 9 for males and for 85. 1 for females). In 2002 Japan was recorded to have the highest life expectancy compared to other developed countries such as USA, 77. 1 and Switzerland 79. 1. Japan, a country which had a life expectancy below most developed countries in the 1950, 63. 9, (partly due to World War II) has made advances in medical technology and improvements in sanitation. The increase in recent years is also due the fact that there havent been any major outbreaks of flu or other infectious diseases. Japans life expectancy is expected to increase to 88. 1 by the year 2050. Japan is becoming older and is losing its youth. The percentage of children aged 0-14 will be 14% of the entire population in 2005. This figure is slowly is slowly decreasing and has been for 50 years (1950s percentage was 35. 4%). This is because of the reduced fertility; people are too busy and decide to have children late. Japanese people work 1966 hours a year that is about 300 more hours of work than the Germans, who work on average 1590 hours per year. 2 More and more women are receiving higher education, 48% of the women continue on to higher education whereas only 42% of the men go on to higher education. Women who get a job and go on to higher wages dont want to get married and because if they dont get married they gather seniority therefore getting more pay. We will write a custom essay sample on The aging population of Japan specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The aging population of Japan specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The aging population of Japan specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer (The starting pay for men and women is about the same) 3 In the 1950s Japan had a population pyramid similar to the developing countries of today which is called expansive. Its population then was 83. 2 million. It had a large base to the mini baby boom between 1947 and 1949. Although there was a significantly large fall in each of the upward age groups due to high death rates and short life expectancy. The shortfall in the age group 30-39 was due to the casualties of World War II. Japans population pyramid started to look more like a developed country in the years to come; the base became smaller and the life expectancy rose rapidly. Japans population pyramid of 2000, is similar to most developing countries although it might soon plunge into the next stage very soon. Sweden which has reached a stage further than most developed countries has fertility as low as Japan. Sweden which once had one of the highest fertility rates is now falling rapidly. Its population in 2000 was 126. 9 million (more accurate population pyramid for 2000 at end of the essay). The population of Japan has not started to decline yet although it is bound to happen very soon. The population grew just 0. 17% in 2002. If the growth rate continues to shrink at its current pace the population will reach its peak by the year 2007. Also by 2007 the percentage of people aging above 65 will reach 20%, it will be the first country to do so. This is Japans population pyramid prediction for 2050. Its population will have started to decline considerably. More than one third of the population will be above 65 whereas only 13% of the population will be below 15 years. By then Japan would have gone through several problems due to its aging community. Demographers have predicted that 36. 5% of the population will be 65+. This is a national average; some regions in Japan will have a low aging population whereas others will have a high aging population. It has also been projected that by 2025 there will be communities where 80%+ of the population is 65 and over. This is also reflected in the median age of Japans population is relatively high compared to other countries, 42. 8. This obviously has an affect on the dependency ratio. Right now the elderly dependency ration alone (child dependency ratio is with children under 15) is about 30%. That would mean three working age people would have to support one elder. This is projected to increase rapidly in the coming years. In 2050 demographers expect the dependency ratio to be three people from the working population to support two elderly people. Tax revenues will cause problems for the working population, which therefore create problems for the government because of its huge deficit. .. There are several ways the government could control the aging population, although this would cost a lot. I think that the government should provide incentives for large families, two or more children so that the population should increase slowly and therefore increasing the youth population, raising fertility. This although take a long time, and couples would have to have time to take for the children and the hours of work would have to be reduced. The Government have been trying to reduce number of hours worked a year so that people that have more time to spend with their children. Another idea to increase the young population and have people have more children would be to import people from developing countries (probably skilled so that they would be able to level up to Japanese standards or they might just have people to do civil work). This would probably have an affect on the population, the people coming from outside would have larger families, even though the work load is hard because they believe that they should have a lot of children, therefore increasing the under 15 population. There is also the negative fact that the young generations might start bring dominantly foreigners. It the population is aging and it is hard to cope with, then they might as well move, export the aging people out, which has been happening recently. This would reduce the tax revenues on old people, and make the population younger. This of course not easy to do due to the cost needed to move the old people and etc. Increasing retirement age will not in theory affect the aging population; it would just reduce taxes for elder. Although this might have a physiological affect on the population and they might think of having children. The population might appreciate working for an extra 10 years or more, and hence it is not easy to pass such a law. People might be getting married, or living together and be sexually active but children are not being born because of contraceptives and abortion. Abortion should be made illegal, making people have children if they are pregnant. This might not have a great affect on the population, but it might stabilize the under 15 population or might even slowly increase. The problem is that if Japan continues like this and doesnt have more children and the percentage of people over 65 increases at a steady speed, the dependency ratio is going to be a one point is very close to one to one. This mean that the government will not be able to raise tax revenues to make the working population support the elders, but instead the population above 65 will have to support themselves, get their own medications. This means that the current working population will have to start saving up money because the government wont be able to pay for them. Thus the working population wont be able to spend money on children and remain childless, decreasing the population. (Didnt use this graph because you couldnt see the labels on a small scale). Country Year Child-dependency ratio Elderly-dependency ratioTotal dependency ratio Median age (years) Â  http://esa. un. org/unpp/index. asp? panel=2 (2005) 2 http://www. mofa. go. jp/j_info/japan/socsec/ogawa. html 3 http://www. mofa. go. jp/j_info/japan/socsec/ogawa. html Pictures- http://www. hino. meisei-u. ac. jp/econ/fnet/indexi. html.

Effect of concentration of H2O2 on the enzyme catalase essays

Effect of concentration of H2O2 on the enzyme catalase essays Enzymes such as Catalase are large protein molecules that are found in living cells. They are used to speed up specific reactions in the cells. They are all specific as each enzyme just performs one particular reaction. In their globular structure, one or more polypeptide chains twist and fold, bringing together a small number of amino acids to form the active site, or the location on the enzyme where the substrate binds and the reaction takes place. Enzyme and substrate fail to join together if their shapes do not match exactly. This ensures that the enzyme does not participate in the wrong reaction. The enzyme itself is unaffected by the reaction. When the products have been released, the enzyme is ready to bind with a new substrate. Enzymes work to change the rate of a reaction without being absorbed by the reaction. The reactant that an enzyme acts on is called the enzyme's substrate. The product is what the enzymes convert the substrate into. Catalase is an enzyme found in food such as potato and liver. It is used for removing Hydrogen Peroxide from the cells. Hydrogen Peroxide is the poisonous by-product of metabolism. Catalase speeds up the decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide (which is the substrate) into water and oxygen as shown in the equations below: Hydrogen peroxide + Catalase Water + Oxygen H2O2 + Catalase H2O + O2 It is able to speed up the decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide because the shape of its active site matches the shape of the Hydrogen Peroxide molecule. This type of reaction where a molecule is broken down into smaller pieces is called an anabolic reaction. Potato split into 4g tubes (enzyme catalase) A pilot test was carried out to figure out how much and in what form the apparatus would need to be in. This is what was concluded; the potato should be ground down with sand (which is unreactive with H2O2) into a paste. This gives a larger surface ...

Ethical Issues in Packaging Practices Research Paper

Ethical Issues in Packaging Practices - Research Paper Example Ethical issues arise when businesses use unfair or deceptive practices while advertising, packaging, promotion, pricing, and distribution among other activities. However, the concern of this paper is the ethical issues in packaging practices. The paper will begin by discussing what is packaging and its purpose. It will also discuss the practices involved in packaging such as labeling and the regulations in place concerning packaging and labeling of containers. The paper will also discuss what ethics is and the ethical issues involved in packaging as well as how they can be dealt with for businesses to be ethically responsible. Being ethical can save the business costs associated with suits and also improve on its sales revenue, brand and company image and royalty. Packaging is the process of design, evaluation, and production of packages to protect products for distribution, storage, sale and use (Boone & Kurtz, 2012). Packaging products enables them to be transported easily to vario us market segments without any harm. Packages in this sense offer physical protection to products such as protection from shock and vibration. It also protects products from water and dust among other harmful effects. Some containers are designed in such a way as to extend the shelf life of products and also ensure products remain fresh, clean, and safe. Another purpose of packaging according to Shimp (2007), is to transmit information to consumers through labeling. This ensures consumers are aware of the contents that make up the product, product quality and quantity, how to use the product, and how to dispose off the package after use. There is also government requirement that consumers be made aware of the side effects of consuming certain products such as drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and other items hence packaging offers this service to consumers allowing them to make informed choices. This is especially so in an era where cases of child obesity are on the increase and people mo re aware of the need to reduce cholesterol intake and to eat healthy foods. Packaging is used by companies as a way of advertising products. When designing packages, manufacturers therefore take into consideration the needs of clients and the target markets. However, while taking advertising into consideration, laws and regulations in place are supposed to be adhered to avoid lawsuits (Padilla, 2004). Packages also are used for containment of products for efficiency especially by grouping small items together. Items such as liquids and powder are also easily contained in a package. This also enables apportionment of the items into small quantities for convenience in distribution. Packaging enables goods to be secured especially for shipment whereby a seal is inserted to avoid theft. Packaging is therefore a very important activity for businesses as it directly affects sales hence should be handled with care. The government and other agencies are keen on packaging practices to ensure ethical standards are maintained and that consumers get value for their money without being deceived. Ethics is a term commonly used in every aspect of our lives as it determines the behavior of individuals and firms in the market. However, it is also a controversial term as it depends on people’s perception of what is right or wrong or moral; what is considered