Old Age in Switzerland.

One thing we noticed going around is the number of active senior citizens on the streets. At Lake Geneva, the train was full of old folks with ski gears. On TV, we saw old people trying out the rope slide from trees. In restaurants during lunch, we were often the youngest diners around.

"That's because all the young people are working now", Lini said. That's true.

But one of the worrying things about Europe in general is that the population is ageing, and not reproducing up to replacement level. In Paris, the area we stayed in near the East train station was predominantly black. We could imagine being in Africa except for the architecture. The street was full of life. The grocer where I bought a toothbrush was Chinese and we spoke in Chinese. Our hotel receptionist was Indian. And this is well within central Paris. So where do the French live? There are less blacks in Switzerland but already 20% of the population are non-citizens, ie foreigners.

Who knows what a declining population will do to the ratio?

Chup.... 30 Nov 2005