How will France cope with an ageing population?
It is true that the population is ageing – in France there are 12.6 million people aged 60 or more [one in five] and the population will continue to age. It is estimated that more than one in three will be aged over 60 in 2050; so elderly people are a very important factor in current society and will also be very important in the society of tomorrow. To respond to this demographic challenge the government is developing resources for elderly people – the creation of my secrtariat d’tat dedicated to elderly people is an example of this. To face up to this ageing of our population and to promote the well-being of elderly people the number of healthcare staff in retirement homes has been reinforced with 20,000 extra jobs over 2008 and 2009 [prior to that the 100,000 workforce was increased by 40,000 posts between 2001-2007]. Whats more, the creation of new places in retirement homes has increased in a year from 7,500 to 12,500 and 6,000 new places for home nursing care were created in 2009
