雅思写作：老龄化社会利与弊

n many countries, the proportion of older people is steadily increasing. Does this trend have more positive or negative effects on society?

这是一道关于老龄化社会的常见雅思写作考题，在准备提纲时，同学们可以从“老龄化社会成因——老龄化社会危害——解决方法”的结构入手，完成该题。

相关背景准备：

如今人口老龄化(aging population)已经成为一个世界范围的社会现象(worldwide phenomenon)。发达国家老龄化进程长达几十年至100多年，而我国只用了18年就进入了老龄化社会，而且老龄化的速度还在加快。从根本上讲，这种趋势是进步(medical progress)、教育水平(educational progress)明显提高和公共卫生事业(public health programs)成就的直接结果。

然而，这样的趋势却是充满危害的。因为我国未富先老的国情，加之家庭小型化的结构，养老问题(例如pension system)已经成为政府和家庭需要面对的问题。此外，人口老龄化也造成劳动力缺口(labor shortage)，这对于发展中国家更是一大问题。

各个国家都在积极想办法缓解人口老龄化带来的影响，但是诸如提高退休年龄(raise the retirement age)这样的举措都获得各国人民的一致反对。中国的人口学者分析，未来20年内，政府应容忍亚非国家向中国大量移民，据预测，未来劳力缺口达到1亿以上，中国将形成大规模的移民潮，成为除美国之外，容纳全球性移民最多的国家。

了解了以上背景之后，我们便可以形成如下思路：

开头段：人口老龄化已经成为世界范围的趋势。其成因主要是医疗进步等方面的成果。其危害大于优势。

主体段1：养老金系统会导致政府面对巨大的财政压力。

主体段2：劳动力缺口会导致经济发展放缓。

结尾段：各国应合作共同解决这个问题。

The aging population has been regarded as a worldwide phenomenon. （交代背景）Fundamentally, such trend is an evitable outcome of the improvement of educational level and medical progress and the achievement of public health programs. （分析成因）However, disadvantages brought with such demographic change can never be neglected.（提出个人观点）

First, as life expectancy has risen and will continue to increase, the pension system will pose a far more serious financial burden on governments.（中心论点） Increase in the number of retired people means a higher pressure for those financing their pensions.（进一步论证） Such unsustainable situation calls for governments to carry out more effective measures to keep their pension systems afloat. Unfortunately, measures such as raising the retirement age to bring down huge public deficits has proved to be quite unpopular among people.（事例论证）

In addition, with more employers retiring and less workforce available, economy would definitely suffer. （中心论点）The number of job vacancies in China are predicted to reach over one hundred million in twenty years.（事例论证） If there are not enough young adults replenish the labor pool, Chinese government will probably have to rely largely on immigrants from South-eastern countries to guarantee a sufficient labor supply and even abolish one-child policy in response to its ongoing economic crisis.（反证）       

From what is discussed above, different areas of aging research all point to the same conclusion that disadvantages of an aging society far outweighs its advantages.（重申观点）Therefore, countries should cooperate very closely with each other and establish more platforms for academicians and scientists to research and reverse the ongoing trend.（升华主题）