Abstract :
The story of the legendary character Peter Pan living in Neverland begins with such words; “All children, except one, grow up” (Barrie, 1911:3). Barrie’s character Peter Pan is a child that will never grow up. This legendary story promulgated the myth that while it was the fate of all children to grow old this was not the case with Peter Pan. In reality, the children of Turkey today will be part of the future demographic trend towards rapid population ageing. Turkey is neither a Neverland nor are its young people endowed with the eternal youth of a Peter Pan. While Turkey at the present time has a society are entitled to a range of services which are relevant to their physical, social, economic, mental and spiritual needs which collectively contribute to their general well-being and quality of life.predominantly young and dynamic population this will change in the near future due to declining fertility rates combined with increasing numbers of people living into old age. Turkey will need to accept that it too will become part of the worldwide trend towards population ageing. In light of the demographic revolution in the age composition of world populations it seems reasonable and timely therefore for Turkey to investigate the following research questions: What is the course of ageing in its most bare form and basic meaning in Turkey?From 1960 to 2014, Turkey’s population increased almost three-fold, with the population of older adults (65+) increasing almost seven-fold. That said the number of young old as well as the oldest old are increasing rapidly. Holding onto the myth that Turkeyhas a considerable young population is no longer realistic or sustainable in light of the impending pace of population ageing that will dramatically increase the proportion of people 65 years and over during the next 40 years. This steady, sustained growth of Turkey’s older population is creating a myriad of challenges. Declining mortality and fertility rates and differentiated in migration process point to salient risks among Turkey’s future old age cohorts – the youth of today. Rural-based care dependency,increasing poverty rates, increasing numbers of poor older females, widows and the disabled are among the potential risks for future decades. The shortfall in social policies to support the needs of older people denotes a lack of genuine concern and outright discrimination against the older population. Citizenship implies among other things that older people, like all people in a society are entitled to a range of services which are relevant to their physical, social, economic, mental and spiritual needs which collectively contribute to their general well-being and quality of life.
Keywords :
Population ageing , gender , poverty , Turkey
