Population Ageing Processes, Case Study (on) Czech and Slovak Republics

Abstract

The process of population ageing is a complex and difficult issue. The intensity of the effort to recognize these processes is reflected in the number of the methods and techniques used in this effort. The analysis of the population age structure and its ageing with the help of the sophisticated knowledge instruments is the crucial work of our contribution. The object of our study is the population of the Czech Republic (CR) and Slovak Republic (SR), and the changes in their age structure in the years 1920-2011. We used some indicators of traditional ageing measures (hexagonal diagram, ageing index, age index, Billeter index) and some new measure tools based on the selected generation groups also. The comparison shows a high degree of similarity. In the development of the ageing processes are also certain differences between the CR and SR. The ageing of the population in the CR started earlier than in Slovakia, and the process is more intense. A number of social problems are associated with the processes of population ageing. The first group are the issues of economic nature (income–pensions of non-working persons, the reduction of productive age category, the opportunities for utilization of the elderly population). The second group involves the issues of social and health services (geriatric facilities, physicians and health care professionals, psychological facilities, special housing requirements, retirement houses of various types, etc.).

Keywords

• age structure
• population ageing
• social support index
• hexagonal diagram
• dynamic index of reproductive ageing.