Demographic and family trends in Asia

This chapter reviews the demographic changes in Asia. Due partly to socioeconomic development, many Asian countries are aging rapidly and will be the main driver of global aging in the coming decades. This is especially true in East Asia which includes China, and also South-Eastern Asia. Some countries are doubling their aged populations within a time span of just two decades or so, and will likely face the challenges of population aging before they become economically, technologically, and educationally advanced. Demographic changes also bring about changes in family structures and functioning, thereby weakening support to older persons. Nonetheless, many policies in the region are still based on the traditional notion of family self-reliance and fail to recognize and respond to the sociodemographic changes, risking an enlarging mismatch between policies and the needs of older persons that affects their chance of aging well. Copyright © 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.