You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Surveys show that people are living longer in many countries. But increased life expectancy has many implications for aging individuals and for society as a whole. What are the possible effects of longer living for individuals and society?

REPORTED ON 15 JANUARY, 2022 (AFTERNOON SESSION)

Advanced technology has enabled man to live a longer life when compared to the past. Although it seems to be a benefit to the human race, when looking in the practical perspective, this has some serious drawbacks.

The worst problem which stems from increased life expectancy is for the individual himself. To be precise, an aged man would have a lot of health issues and this affects his activities of daily living. As his body gets emaciated due to geriatric problems, he would have problems with both his emotional and intellectual health. Ultimately he would be socially isolated and would suffer extreme depression.

Turning to the problems which are expected to be faced by the people around when the life expectancy increases, the most tangible is the economic liability to care the aged.  To be clearer, as a person gets older, his medical expenses and personal care expenses would go higher. Most members in the modern families are either working or studying, and they would not get enough time to take care their older generation. Therefore, these people have to be moved to places where they get satisfactory care from professionals, and the expense for the same is huge.

It is to be seen that a longer life benefits some people in their life. One such occasion is when they have a lot of loved ones around to care them. Similarly, when eminent scientists and mathematicians live longer, the society would be benefitted. Yet, I feel that this is not true in the case of the majority.

To conclude, albeit the increased life expectancy has given some people opportunities to enjoy the life, for most people , it is not productive as expected.

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