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According to new population projections released this morning by Statistics Canada, senior citizens are expected to outnumber children within ten years.
In all growth scenarios considered for this study, seniors aged 65 and over would become more numerous than children aged less than 15 around the year 2015. This would be an unprecedented situation in Canada.
. . .
In 2005, Canada's population is younger than the populations of most of the G8 countries. However, it is expected to age more rapidly in the coming years as a direct result of the pronounced baby boom following the Second World War and the rapid decline in fertility that followed.
. . .
[T]he ageing of the Canadian population is inevitable, since it is largely already inherent in the age structure of the current population.
Canada's demographic dependency ratio, defined as the number of children aged less than 15 years and the number of seniors 65 and over for every 100 working-age people, is set to rise rapidly as well.
In 2005, for every 100 working-age people, there were 44 children and seniors. According to the medium growth scenario, this ratio is estimated to grow to about 61 by 2031.
The proportion of the Canadian population of working age (those aged 15 through 64), presently about 70%, is projected to decline to around 62% within twenty-five years.
If these projections indeed come to pass (and, as Statistics Canada says, it appears "inevitable"), Canada's income support programs could come under severe strain in just a few years. Yet, as far as I'm aware, none of the party leaders has addressed the long-term sustainability of our social welfare state. Time to get heads out of the sand?
The Statistics Canada summary news release is posted here, but the full report costs $30, payable through the buy link on this page.
Der Spiegel, 
Now here's the original photo used in the letter "C" on Spiegel's cover, along with its