Nursing. If you’re unsure of a trade, nursing is a solid path to some guarantee of financial security as the world ages. Demand for healthcare will only increase for the remainder of our lifetimes. Can potentially upgrade to nurse practitioner for more autonomy and earning power without an MD. It will also easily transfer to most developed countries for a work visa.
> The global population is getting
older even faster than envisioned
just a decade ago. The inevitable shift towards top-heavy age
distributions, unprecedented in
human history, constitutes one of
the most significant changes and
challenges for many societies in
the coming decades. The two key
demographic causes of population aging are well known. Falling
death rates result in more people
who live to older ages, and falling
fertility reduces the population
at younger ages (He, Goodkind,
and Kowal, 2016). These demographic changes create a seemingly inescapable “fertility trap” — a
growing share of older people in
a population destined to continually shrink (Lutz, Skirbekk, and
Testa, 2006). Moreover, sustained
low fertility below the “replacement” level (about two births per
couple) accelerates the process
by eventually causing the number
of parents to decline each year.
Among the world’s most populous
countries, the first to experience
both a shrinking population and a
greater proportion of older people
were Russia (where the population
decline began in 1996) and Japan
(where the population began to
fall in 2008) (U.S. Census Bureau,
2023). Although other countries
have since joined them, the world
population overall is expected to
keep growing for several decades.
(71% of the global population lives in countries below replacement rate, as of this comment)
Nursing. If you’re unsure of a trade, nursing is a solid path to some guarantee of financial security as the world ages. Demand for healthcare will only increase for the remainder of our lifetimes. Can potentially upgrade to nurse practitioner for more autonomy and earning power without an MD. It will also easily transfer to most developed countries for a work visa.
Older adults now outnumber the youngest children worldwide - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49578204 - September 2026
https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2026/demo/p95-2...
> The global population is getting older even faster than envisioned just a decade ago. The inevitable shift towards top-heavy age distributions, unprecedented in human history, constitutes one of the most significant changes and challenges for many societies in the coming decades. The two key demographic causes of population aging are well known. Falling death rates result in more people who live to older ages, and falling fertility reduces the population at younger ages (He, Goodkind, and Kowal, 2016). These demographic changes create a seemingly inescapable “fertility trap” — a growing share of older people in a population destined to continually shrink (Lutz, Skirbekk, and Testa, 2006). Moreover, sustained low fertility below the “replacement” level (about two births per couple) accelerates the process by eventually causing the number of parents to decline each year. Among the world’s most populous countries, the first to experience both a shrinking population and a greater proportion of older people were Russia (where the population decline began in 1996) and Japan (where the population began to fall in 2008) (U.S. Census Bureau, 2023). Although other countries have since joined them, the world population overall is expected to keep growing for several decades.
(71% of the global population lives in countries below replacement rate, as of this comment)