Some countries have overwhelmingly young populations. Inamajority of countries in Africa, as well as some countries in Latin America and tropical Asia, close to half the population is younger than 15 years of age (Figure 3.10). In Uganda, for example, 51 percent of the population is younger than 15 years of age. In sub-Saharan Africa, 44 percent of all people are younger than 15. Other countries, generally those that industrialized early, have a preponderance of middle-aged people in the over 15–under 65 age bracket. A growing number of affluent countries have remarkably aged populations. In Germany, for example, fully 21 percent of the people have now passed the traditional retirement age of 65. Many other European countries are not far behind. A sharp contrast emerges when Europe is compared with Africa, Latin America, or parts of Asia, where the average person never even lives to age 65. In Mauritania, Niger, Afghanistan, Guatemala, and many other countries, only 2 to 3 percent of the population have reached that age.

Countries with disproportionate numbers of old or young people often address these imbalances in innovative ways. Italy, for example, has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, with a TFR of only 1.4. In addition, Italy’s population is one of the oldest in the world: 20.5 percent of its population is age 65 or older. As a result of both its TFR and age distribution, Italy’s population is projected to shrink by 10 percent between 2010 and 2050. Of course, immigrants to Italy from other countries can and no doubt will counteract this trend, but that will lead to contentious political and cultural debates.

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Given that the Italian culture does not embrace the institutionalization of the growing ranks of its elderly, and faced with the reality that more Italian women than ever work outside the home and thus few adult women are willing or able to stay at home full time to care for their elders, Italians have gotten creative. Elderly ltalians can apply for adoption by families in need of grandfathers or grandmothers. Frances D’Emilio recounts the experience of one such man, Giorgio Angelozzi, who moved in with the Rivas, a Roman family with two teenagers. Angelozzi said that Marlena Riva’s voice reminded him of his deceased wife, Lucia, and this is what convinced him to choose the Riva family. Dagmara Riva, the family’s teenage daughter, said that Mr. Angelozzi has helped her with Latin studies and that “Grandpa is a person of great experience, an affectionate person. We’re very happy we invited him to live with us.”

Age structure also differs spatially within individual countries. For example, rural populations in the United States and many other countries are usually older than those in urban areas. The flight of young people to the cities has left some rural counties in the midsection of the United States with populations whose median age is 45 or older. Some warm areas of the United States have become retirement havens for the elderly; parts of Arizona and Florida, for example, have populations far above the average age. Communities such as Sun City near Phoenix, Arizona, legally restrict residence to the elderly (Figure 3.11). In Great Britain, coastal districts have a much higher proportion of elderly than does the interior, suggesting that the aged often migrate to seaside locations when they retire. (Figure 3.11 with caption)

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