To help aging population, Japanese robots put to work

japanpoprobots

One-fifth (21 percent) of the Japanese population is over the age of 65, according to the CIA World Fact Book. (Compare that to us here in the Sates, with 12.6 percent over 65 years of ago.) Since its population isn’t getting any younger, Japan has to come up with a source of labor to support its aging population.

Robots!

A Japanese think tank recently predicated that robots could end up doing the work of 3.5 million people. By using robots, not only will Japan ease the stress on its working population, but it’ll also save money on health insurance, something like $21 billion. So it makes sense from a logistical and financial standpoint.

To illustrate how serious this is, Japan’s over-65 population is currently projected to jump to a whopping 40 percent. Can you imagine that, 40 percent of everyone walking on the street at least 65-years-old? Fertility rates there aren’t too hot, which partially explains the growth of the elderly population. Pat Buchanan had a whole book on plummeting Western fertility rates, if you’re in the mood to read.

But yes, robots to the rescue. Hopefully their switches aren’t set to evil.