By now, most people know that the whole world is becoming older. They just have to look around and see for themselves. Global life expectancy in 1950 was only 47 years of age. Today that same number throughout the world has risen to 66 years. In the U.S. it is 77 at birth, and people turning 65 can expect to live another 18 years. This longevity trend, as a result of improved health care, diet and standard of living, is now taking place in most parts of the world.
             According to The World Bank, over one billion people or 16 percent of the world's population will turn 60 years old or older by 2030. In addition, as birth rates continue to fall throughout the world, by 2050, the number of elderly aged 65 to 84 is expected to be three times as great, and older people will outnumber children for the first time in recorded history. This demographic seismic shift is known as global aging (Novelli, 2004).
             The baby boomers generation is helping spur on this growth by being the largest percentage increase of any age group in the 1990-2000 as noted in the 2000 Census, with a 55 percent increase. The second fastest-growing group was 45- to 49-year-olds, which registered a 45-percent increase (U.S. Census, 2001)
             This same situation is happening worldwide in both Western and developing nations. For example, in the United Kingdom, in 2004, according to estimates based on the 2001 Census of Population, there were over 11 million older people: 9,580,000 were people aged 65 and over; 4,547,000 were people aged 75 and over; and 1,112,000 were people aged 85 and over. Similarly, the number of babyboomers alive today in Great Britain is 15.8 million or 27 percent of the total population (Age Concern, 2006)
             China is expected to become the second nation right after Japan that will suffer a rapid aging of its population in the coming decades, according to the Green Book of Population and Labor. Statistics show that, from 2000 to 2007, the...