Leader: With old age must come wisdom

THE GOOD news is that Scotland's population is at its highest level since 1977, and we are living longer.

The bad news is Scotland's population is at its highest level since 1977, and we are all living longer. That, in a nutshell, is the paradox of modern demographics.

Figures from the General Register Office for Scotland show life expectancy improving dramatically. A man born in 2009 can now expect to live to beyond 75, compared with below 70 if he was born in 1981. Women born in 2009 can expect to live beyond 80 compared with around 75 if they were born three decades earlier.

However, this longevity has a downside in the shape of the demands which an ageing population puts on the welfare state, particularly health and social services. In this respect David Bell, Professor of Economics at Stirling University, is right to warn that all of the programmes relating to elderly people will have to be reconsidered.

Unpopular though his message may be, and difficult though it will be for risk-averse politicians who do not want to upset our older citizens, a large and democratically active swathe of the population, Prof Bell is right to warn we have to look at the affordability of pensions, health care and social care.

We do, as Prof Bell says, need a comprehensive review of what we can and cannot afford, as well as how we might better and more efficiently deliver health and social services. We should start now before the demographic timebomb explodes.